


Lost in Flowers

by ToodleOfDeeth



Series: Lost in Grass [2]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Amnesia, Angst, Attempt at Humor, Boys Will Be Boys, Bromance, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Drabble Collection, Food, Gen, Humor, In Game Events, Injury, Light Angst, Memory Loss, Minor Character Death, Minor Injuries, Minor Original Character(s), Minor Violence, Post-Calamity Ganon, Temporary Amnesia, Worldbuilding, but you knew that, hell yeah, key word being attempt, love that tag, ther will be more angst later on, theyre already dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-01-14
Packaged: 2019-10-07 19:49:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 25,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17372207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToodleOfDeeth/pseuds/ToodleOfDeeth
Summary: Alone, afraid, but unbroken, Link awakens from his sleep to a world that he has never known before - or at least a world that he doesn't know now. To himself he is a lone man, lost in the great landscape of Hyrule, but to many he is more, more than what he could have ever wanted to be, and more than what even he thinks he was.He is Link, and in the eyes of many that was enough. It's just a shame that he didn't agree with them.(Mature themes and violence in chapters 6 and 8)





	1. Awoken

Five years passed.

_Link… Wake up..._

He didn't.

 

Thirty-one years passed.

_Wake up, Link…_

He didn't.

 

Eighty-four years passed.

_Awaken, Hero…_

He didn't.

 

One hundred years passed.

_Open your eyes…_

He did.

 

“Oho ho! Well met, stranger! It’s rather unusual to see another soul in these parts,” The old man said, sitting beside the fire and using an alcove to shelter from the wind. The kid blinked at him, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and sloppily pulling on his boot, his hands fumbling over the laces due to their stiffness. He yawned, then sat on the other side of the fire to the old man and leant back against the stone wall, letting his head slump while he blinked without really registering what he was seeing.

He had to admit that the wind helped him stay awake. He felt like he could go straight back to sleep, his body feeling lethargic and heavy as he attempted to pull himself back together. Furthermore his right side ached for no apparent reason, but he didn't see anything when he looked down, all of his skin blurring into a peach shape as he blinked to clear his vision. In his left hand he held a threadbare shirt that would have went down to his elbows should he have worn it, and in his right was a stick.

“My boy, surely you cannot be tired?”

The boy shook his head from side to side, feeling his fringe flutter on his forehead.

“No…” He mumbled, licking his dry lips.

“Well, although we may be strangers there is no harm in sitting by the fire together on this plateau. The Great Plateau, that is. Here,” The old man gestured to the fire, and the boy gazed down to look at what he was _actually_ gesturing to, “Please do help yourself. An apple and an open flame make for a succulent treat.”

He stared blankly at the apple for a moment, willing himself to take it, and after a moment his body caught up with his brain and so he reached down for it.

The skin, while unpleasant and mushy, gave way to a warm and sweet interior, the juices dripping down his chin and onto his chest. He nodded at the man, chewing over the large mouthful and muttering, “S’good.”

The old man laughed at him, his eyes still hidden by the hood but his body language open, “You must have been hungry. I can't imagine it; I always seem to be coming across food. Tell me son, what is your name?”

The boy paused in his chewing, looking off into the distance with an odd look on his face, and only started to chew again when he had taken a moment to think. “I…” He started, looking again at the fire when he had finished his mouthful, “I don't remember.”

The old man seemed to pity him, drawing back a little in consideration of this. He hummed, rubbing his hand absentmindedly through his beard, “Well, young man, if you do find out then let me know. In the meantime, there is a small freshwater pond behind me somewhere. I use it to drink, but you are more than welcome to it as well.”

He went to look for the pond seeing as his mouth unpleasantly sticky after his snack, but something caught the boy’s attention, “What’s that?” He pointed to some ruins behind where the man was sitting, standing to get a better look at it.

“That temple there… Long ago, it was the site of many sacred ceremonies.”

He picked up the old man’s torch.

“Well then, just help yourself to that torch there. And how, may I ask, are you planning on using it?”

The boy thought it over for a moment, looking at the ruins and the small used-to-be village outside it, before turning to the old man again and saying, “It’s a secret.”

 

‘Stop the beast,’ He thought, hopping down the tower that had popped out from under him, ‘Whatever that is.’

 

The pond beside the shrine was _full_ of chests and boxes and random pieces of metal, visible from the surface but inaccessible before he had entered, but now with the magnesis rune on his slate he could throw the boxes around and lift the treasure from the bottom of the pond, even managing to break open a few of the metal crates to get arrows and fruit. How long the fruit had been in there he didn't know, but biting into the wild berry had resulted in a tasty snack rather than a spoilt dessert.

 

The… _thing_ beside the bomb shrine terrified him for no reason that he could recall, but for reasons that were obvious in the moment - bright red light coming from its seams, a single blue ‘eye’ that followed him wherever he went, and a spine chilling beeping noise as the laser pointer watched him. He’d managed to get out of the thing’s line of sight before it had done whatever it _would have_. The fact that it was in the ground didn't help the matter at all, because all he could think about now was what it would look like out of it, whether it had legs or wings or some other form of movement.

He shuddered.

 

Staying overnight in the old man’s cabin had been an experience.

“Have you had any luck with the name, son?” He asked, stirring something over the fire that smelt incredible but he couldn't quite identify.

“It’s a,” He made a gesture with his hands, his face scrunching up like a child’s does when they taste something unpleasant, “It’s an ‘L’ name.”

“Well, at least your getting somewhere.”

“A big name.”

“What, Leonardo?”

“Not that kind of big. Like, important.”

“Now that is a puzzle. Did you not hear anything say it to you? You said you heard a voice up that tower, correct?”

The boy shook his head, “it was so faint. I could barely hear it.”

“Hmmm. You’ll have to think some more on it.”

“It’s short, so that others can't make fun of me for it. That’s all I know.”

 

Climbing was something he had a lot of experience with, apparently, because while it was still hard work it was something he knew how to do. Foot on the ledge, hand in hole, foot in hole, hand on ledge, and stop climbing as soon as it starts to rain and hang there until it stops, then continue.

It was still arm shakingly, back breakingly, leg achingly tough, but it was something he could do, which felt fantastic in comparison to the lax mood that he had the day before. While the act of climbing might not have been something he remembered, he hoped that the feeling success upon finally reaching the top would never fade.

 

The stasis shrine gave him another rune but also a lot more questions. If there was the option to stop immobile objects for a little while, was there a way to use it on mobile objects to? A way to update the rest of his slate too, perhaps?

 

The monster with the weird eyes and hunched back made his skin crawl, and even watching it from a distance he didn't want to get near. It wandered about in the field before crouching and turning the same colour as the grass, attempting to camouflage better. If he hadn't been watching he may have fallen for it, and looking at one of those things up close was not on his to do list any time soon.

“Yeah, let’s go around,” He said to himself, scrambling up a wall.

 

Now _these_ monsters he could handle.

There were three of them huddled around the fire, their bare bodies relaxing in the snow without fear of the elements. He couldn't place what animal they looked like, but they definitely looked like an animal he had seen before, with their tusks and terrible ears and snorting. The first one went down fairly easily, only making a couple of stabs at him and missing before it slid down the cliff.

The second one smacked its boko bat into his stomach, winding him and he stumbled backwards into the snow. His elixir was still in effect, his skin feverish as it hit the snow, but he didn't back down just yet. With another hit the second one went down, puffing into sickly purple smoke, which the third one walked through to get to him.

The spear wasn't the sharpest of tools, but it was definitely fast, nearly hitting him in the head if he hadn't ducked to the right. Brandishing the other monsters forgotten bat, he leaped into the air and smacked it on the creature's head, taking no small pleasure as he came from another battle victorious.

The meat they had been roasting was a rather nice prize too.

 

“Aren't you cold?” The old man asked, his lantern the only source of light in the moonless night.

While the old man was fully clothed in thick leathers and wool, his own thin cotton shirt and trousers were not much against the bitter wind coming from the east, and since his elixir had worn off a quarter of an hour ago he could no longer feel his toes. He didn't trust his voice, with his teeth clattering together and his mouth dry, but he nodded along. The old man pulled a bundle of green cloth from nowhere and handed it to him.

“Although this doublet isn't exactly modern, but it is hopefully a little warmer than what you're wearing now. The boy who wore it originally wasn't concerned with its warmth, seeing as he wanted the sleeves removed, but I hope you find it to your liking.”

 

For some reason the ice he created didn't freeze his fingers nearly as much as the ice outside, feeling just as cool as the ancient walls of the shrine with the same kind of grip that he had found on the walls near to the old man’s hut. The ice was more like stone in some ways but not in others, because regardless of how deep the water was the ice always stayed with a huge portion of itself out of the water, with one of its smaller sides in the water, whereas when he threw a chunk of ice into the river earlier it had its smallest surface out of the water. It also didn't wobble as he climbed it, which was something he had expected.

This shrine felt simpler than the others, but maybe he was just getting used to handling the slate. What he did know, however, was that the mini-laser monsters were far less frightening than their half-buried counterparts, but it also put the idea into his mind that the ones that were half buried were _supposed_ to have legs.

It also made him realise something that was more important.

Those things, at some point in time, were not intent on killing him. With the chill of the shrine and the numbness in his fingertips, he thought back to only a vague whisper called a memory, one that included a portrait of a blonde child, a wise woman who didn't really have an age, and a young woman in blue. He moved his lips, muttering to himself to aid his memory, and then said, “Oh.”

He exited the shrine with more than his own name on his lips.

 

“Well, young man? Did you get the treasure?” The old man asked him, waiting outside the shrine with the warm glow of his lantern on his smiling face.

Link didn't hesitate.

“Who was Zelda?”

The smile slipped away like sand in a river.

“Why do you ask?”

“I remembered something,” Link began, “Those… smaller robots. The big ones have legs? And one was looking at me and this other person. She… her name was Zelda, right?”

The old man nodded slowly, thinking of what to say without appearing dismissive or rude. He turned towards the Temple of Time. “Well, I’m glad that your memories are returning. I have important things to tell you, but I cannot do that here. Come morning you should meet me where all the shrines intersect, but until then I don't mind if you spend the night at my cabin again. You need to rest before I… before I give you the paraglider, Young man.”

“Link.”

The old man smiled, “Link.”

 

While the temple was one of the only remaining structures left on the Great Plateau, Link had forgone exploring it in favour of going about his own wills, and since the ruins were so vast he had reasoned that there wasn't much point exploring them until after he had the treasure for the old man.

Now, standing in the imposing entryway, looking at the streams of light coming through the ceiling that fanned over the Goddess, Link was glad that he had left this until last, as he was certain that when he first woke up he wouldn't have known who the statue was. Something about that notion, not knowing who the goddess was, felt so unreal and wrong. They were an important figure, although for what reason he wasn't sure, and he made sure to note it down to ask the old man when he had spoken to him. In the meantime Link busied himself with clambering up the ivy walls to reach the tower where the old man would give him the paraglider.

Hopefully this time the old man wouldn't set him another multiple-day-taking task before handing it over.


	2. Travel

_I pray that from this moment forward your troubles ease, Link,_ _for a great journey stands in your way, of ice and fire and grass. If this form were stronger, then I would do all I could to aid you further, but alas it is not._

_A Woman by the name of Impa will help you find your path. She lives in Kakariko village just east of here, and you can reach there on the road that leads between the Duelling Peaks. She has an important part of your past life in her care, and can help you gather information about your history._

_Until that point, I must say; It is dangerous to go alone, and you should take this. I’m aware that it looks like a simple bag, but it carries an enchantment to allow you to hold more items, but the enchantment is weak, and thus heavier things like weapons you can only carry in small amounts. And Link..._

_I am sorry that this fate has chosen you._

_The previous incarnations of the heroes, the Goddess Hylia herself, and Princess Zelda are all watching over you. May luck be on your side._

 

Link was alone.

The old man, or the king, had disappeared into nothingness, doomed to be forgotten in the endless march of time, and Link almost cried at the realisation that even he, the last person to see him, had no idea who the man even was.

Slowly Link looked around the small tower room, noticing the chest but not looking in it, seeing the shredded banners but not touching them, smelling the flowers without looking at them. The slate on his hip burned a hole through his clothes, rubbing his skin with every step, and he felt like burying the thing in order to get away from the responsibilities that came along from having it.

The gap in his memories didn't help. The whole time that he was retrieving the bow and climbing down from the tower he was desperately thinking, going around and around the same things - cave, man, tower, shrine, blue-eyed thing, shrine, sleep, shrine, monsters, shrine, temple. Shrine, sleep, monsters, shrine. Cave, tower, temple. Shrine. Nothing before it. Nothing, cave.

His head having scrambled wasn't as worrying a concern as it perhaps should have been, as when Link looked at the Goddess statue again he felt an all-consuming beckoning for him to approach, like it was attempting to speak to him without using language. Link watched it for a moment, seeing the curtains of dust fall from the roof as the breeze continued to flush it through. _Well,_ He thought, approaching the statue, _even if this land isn't mine anymore, it’s still there for the taking_.

 

Leaving the plateau felt wrong, like he was leaving behind something that he would never see in the same light again, like he was leaving the only thing he had ever known. He was sure that when (if) he ever came back it would all feel too different, like he had changed while the plateau hadn't.

Despite the anxieties surrounding his first use of the paraglider, or first recalled use of the paraglider, he didn't hesitate in readying it and leaping off, gently descending down the side to eventually reach the grassy bottom, which revealed more run down buildings. He knew that these had great opportunities in them as the ones near to the temple had held a few rusted weapons, but also treasure chests with useful items inside, such as shields, gemstones, and on one occasion another pair of shoes. The last one was arguably the most important of his discoveries seeing as the ones left for him in the cave were half eaten by mildew by the time he had awoken.

Magnesis at the ready, Link scrambled over the nearest wall and into the four-standing walls. His feet made a magnificent splashing sound as he went ankle deep into a puddle, but he ignored the wet feeling in favour of scouring, looking this way and that through the slate to see any objects hidden in the floor. He didn't see anything in the room, and moved through into the next.

This continued for a couple of hours. He went from room to room, acquiring a few little things but no monumental finds. The best item so far still went to the boots, but as a bitter breeze went through the structure he couldn't help but wish he had found some longer trousers. His doublet, on the other hand, was as warm as could be.

Link left the next building, eager to search through another, but he instead came face-to-face with responsibility.

_Wham!_

The bokoblin’s club came down hard on the traveller’s shield, echoing through the courtyard. Link immediately put the slate away, pulling his rusted sword out along with his own shield, and cautiously approached. The man seemed to be handling the battle quite well, but a woman nearby was not nearly so confident with her weapon, raising her arm in defence as a sword came down on her.

Link leapt into action.

The monster didn't take kindly to being slashed, turning its attention away from the woman in order to turn it’s wrath on Link, who thankfully ducked before it could slice through the side of his head. His foot scraped on the loose flooring as he dived at the monster, raising his sword to drive it into its face. The creature wailed as it fell to the side, dead.

He didn't pause, turning to block the other bokoblin’s strike with his shield. The thing howled at him perhaps in anger over its fallen comrade, but the bleeding wound on its ear could have also been the culprit. Wrestled to the floor, Link’s feet came up behind his shield to stop the thing from ramming its weapon into him. He grunted, grasped at his sword again, and pushed it through the monster’s chest. The light behind the creature’s eyes faded, leaving them a terrible dark red before Link rolled the thing’s corpse off his chest. The sword snapped in his hand when he went to remove it, and Link sighed at the hilt before throwing it into the nearby well.

“That was a close one,” The man said, wiping his brow with the back of his hand. He wasn't in bad shape, over all, but Link couldn't tell if the blood on his hand was the man’s or the monsters. The woman seemed to be similar shape, albeit a bit more shaken.

“You really saved me back there,” She said, helping Link get to his feet, “I can't thank you enough. Here,” The woman something from her pack and handed it to him, “I hope this’ll help you. I can't leave you empty handed after being so brave back there.”

And with that they moved on, leaving Link behind with a single red rupee and the biggest smile on his face.

 

Rain fell over Hyrule, bringing with it great claps of thunder and monumental lightening, which shook the very ground that Link walked on.

Although he had stopped walking now, instead sitting in a shallow cave with a small fire, the rain still came in enough to wet his shoes and the end of his blanket that he had stolen from the old man’s hut.

The blanket wasn't the only thing he had stolen. Link flicked through the old man’s diary, reading his gentle tales of life on the plateau, from picking hot peppers to felling trees. Apparently, although the old man had technically been a ghost, he still needed to eat and be warm when he was in his physical form, and when he arrived on the plateau there hadn't been the hut. Who knew that the previous king of Hyrule had been so practical?

There were also recipes - mushroom risotto, carrot and pumpkin soup, curried fish - and anecdotes about all of them.

_Rice is cooked when translucent. Always add salt when you intend to serve, and never add when you intend to cook it further. Pumpkin likes to be roasted, and goes well with ginger. Add honey to any hot drink to soothe the throat._

Obviously it all came from trial and error, both of which Link was certain he would have great opportunity to explore when he found another cooking pot. Currently he only had a fire, no cooking ware in sight, but he had still managed to make a meal that he was sure to enjoy - roasted mushrooms, specifically silent shrooms. He found that he enjoyed mellow tones of them that came out when cooked by themselves, and were much more pleasant roasted than they were raw. When he was with the old man he had eaten rice balls made with them, which were the right contrast of tangy and sweet, mixed with some kind of herb to enhance the mushrooms further. Rice, mushrooms, a herb, and salt.

He couldn't understand why anyone would put flowers in their food though, regardless of whether or not they increased certain effects that food had. Paring a thistle with a certain type of fish to create a strength increasing effect sounded all well and good in theory, but he couldn't help but think about the thorns that were all along that type of flower stems. Similarly with the Silent Princess - those things were apparently so rare that the old man hadn't come across them on the plateau, despite them growing all across the land, regardless of climate. Unable to be cultivated outside of the wild, too - it sounded a bit like the man’s journal was talking about Link.

But thinking about flowers wasn't what Link intended to spend this awful night doing. His mushrooms were almost fully cooked, based on how their caps spread like they were reaching for something.

Eating made him less hungry, but the real pleasure that came from the meal came from imagining what he could cook next.

 

An odd thing occurred when he woke up that night, and it was something that Link wasn't interesting in seeing happen again.

The moon turned red.

The voice, the one which he assumed belonged to the princess, spoke to him and explained that it was a blood moon, which awoke all the monsters that Link or anyone else had killed so that they could live again.

When the moon turned white again Link looked at it over the edge of his blanket, shrugged, and went back to sleep.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is a biggie, so please excuse the shorter ones for now :)


	3. Civilisation

Across fields, ridges, bridges and hills, Link travelled across everything that wasn't a path leading towards the Duelling Peaks. He thought, in all of his seventeen year old maturity, that if Princess Zelda had waited one hundred years, then what was the harm in taking a couple of days to explore a little? Hyrule was _right there,_ and he was going to short of time once he had actually rescued her, seeing how they were both supposedly important.

At the present period Link had three goals.

One. Get to Kakariko village and speak to Impa, hopefully get something to eat and hold his things while he was there, and purchase another bag that could hold all of the many Korok seeds he had found. He also needed to try and find someone who sold clothes, and a stray arrow had poked a hole in his trouser leg, and based on how thin the armpits were on his cotton undershirt it would follow suit shortly.

Two. Figure out how to use the things that he got as a reward for completing the shrine. While they didn't carry a physical weight, Link assumed that they had to serve some purpose other than being inside him (thinking about it, Link was worried that they _did_ hold a physical weight, they were just somewhere in him). He’d found around five or six since leaving the plateau, all of which held puzzles that made use not only of the slate, but also of his skills and equipment. He had only had to back out of one, which was only because he had ran out of arrows and couldn't activate the switch. Speaking of things to do: arrows. Someone must sell them, and he dearly hoped that they’d be willing to trade the red rupee for them.

Finally, three. Escape these bokoblins on horses.

There were only two, thankfully, but Link knew that they often travelled in groups of up to five, attacking anything on sight to drag back and eat. He’d seen a group of them a couple of days ago near Lake Kolomo chasing a deer, waving their spears around without care for their steeds nor their brethren, intent on nothing but the destruction of the poor animal. The deer hadn't escaped, and at this current point Link wasn't sure that he would either.

His feet pelted against the floor as he ran, almost tripping on stray rocks and stone as he ducked to stop the bokoblins from slamming their spears into his head. His hands were empty, seeing as he had dropped his rusty sword when he had tripped to get away from the monsters, and now he only had two weapons that could be of potential use - a pitchfork and a broadsword.

The issue was that they were both on his back, as were the bokoblins, and if he stopped it would surely give them ample opportunity to run their weapons through him, and the _other_ issue was that Link had no idea how to fight something on horseback.

It was pure, dumb luck when one of the spears missed him, then the other immediately after. With both of the monsters in front of him, Link drew his bow in a last ditch attempt to get them off his back, nocking one of the only electric arrows he had found and taking aim.

The blue bokoblin guided its horse around to charge again at Link, but fortunately Link’s arrow was faster than the scared horse’s charge. The bokoblin flung off its horse, landing in the grass with a thud and a scream, and in a moment of unanticipated skill, Link grabbed the horse, dragged himself on, and kicked it into high gear. The other bokoblin, still on its horse, cried and gave chase.

Link pulled his pitchfork from his back, attempting to sooth the horse as he kept an eye on the admittedly slower bokoblin, watching as it eventually turned to go back and aid to its fallen kin. He sighed in relief, letting the horse carry him over the Whistling Hill and towards the bottomless swamp, where he knew a road ran between them. The horse chortled, unimpressed with its new rider, but Link was sure that it would come to like him with enough apples.

The poor thing had obviously been through a lot, he noticed, as it had many scratches down its sides from the bokoblins long nails. Furthermore, there were open welts on its flank from what Link could only assume were arrows, although the offending items had since been removed. He looked behind him again to make sure that the monsters were not following him, before dismounting to assess the situation.

The horse was in fairly bad shape, with the wounds oozing pus and having unpleasant looking scabs surrounding them. Link was no expert on horses, or even health for that matter, so he looked around for a moment at a loss of what to do. It obviously wasn't the best of plans to continue to ride the horse in such a bad condition, and Link wasn't aware of anyone nearby who would know how to calm and clean such a thing.

He looked southwards and saw nothing that sparked his knowledge, and then north.

_Ah-ha!_

A small shelter, with what looked like a cooking pot, was a little further up the path under the shade of a small tree. Link picked an apple out of his bag, and as he had hoped, the horse began to follow him towards the small tree.

“C’mon,” he lured, “You’ll get it when we get there.”

The horse obviously wasn't listening to him, but instead listened to the movement of the apple, and when they eventually reached the small shelter Link handed over the treat as he had promised.

The shelter, although unsuitable for more than perhaps one night stay, was more than he ever could have hoped for. There was a small length of rope, a clay pot, and as he had spotted before, a campfire with a cooking pot. He picked up the rope to tie his horse, lit the campfire with a small piece of flint he found inside the pot, and then took the pot to the river that flowed just behind the shelter.

He knew that water wasn't much when it came to medicine, and river water wouldn't do much in the way of helping his new companion, but he did know that he needed to get its wounds clean as soon as possible, as there was no use running around Hyrule on a horse that was in pain. He returned with the pot of water and poured it into the cooking pot, filling it halfway. He went back and got another pot full, but upon returning he didn't put it over the fire. Link pulled free a length of cloth he had stolen from one of the many banners in the Temple of Time, ripping it in half to make smaller pieces, which he placed in the water too.

The horse didn't seem too bothered about being tied to a tree, with its head buried in a bush as it ate whatever it felt like. When Link felt like the cloth was clean enough, he pulled it free with a stick and let it cool for a moment, then took it in his hand to clean the poor horse’s wounds. It startled, though not violently, and didn't take too kindly to Link ridding it of the pus.

The process wasn't pleasant - the five or so arrow holes were deep and vile, still with fresh blood after Link removed the worst of the infected scabs. When the first of the cloths had been soiled, he replaced it in the cooking pot and took the other one out instead; going over the previous holes before starting anew on the ones he hadn't tended to yet.

Almost as if the horse knew that Link was trying to help it, it stopped fighting and instead looked at him through its dark hair, which covered both its eyes. It didn't seem to be expressing any intense emotion, but Link liked to think that it was thankful.

All the while he soothed it, taking care to avoid the healing scrapes on its side while he gently brushed over its back with his spare hand, whispering praises at its lovely behaviour. “You’re so brave,” He whispered, “You're being such a good-” He looked underneath it, “Girl. You're being such a brave girl, aren’t you? Dealing with those nasty monsters, letting me help you like that. You’re so good.”

The horse raised one of her front hooves and scratched the ground, shaking her head from side to side, making him laugh. “That’s right,” He said, petting her mane, “You're so good.”

 

Link walked the horse north to where he hoped the next stable was, according to the man who had just came from the place on his way past.

“Yeah, it’s north. That’s the nearest one to Kakariko from here, at least. They’ll set you up with a saddle and bridle and all that when you register your new horse, too. Twenty rupees. Now that's what I call a bargain.”

Now, Link wasn't exactly sure how this whole memory loss thing worked. He knew for a fact that he had forgotten where he had learned actions, but he hadn't forgotten the action itself- climbing, horse riding, wielding bows and swords and spears and clubs - and he was still left in the dark about whether or not the red rupee he had received actually equated to twenty. He had a hunch that it did, but he honestly didn't really know if he could trust himself with that, as before now he had assumed that he knew how to paraglide, which obviously wasn't true.

Still though, he figured he may at the very least be able to sell a few of what little items he carried while he was there; a few apples, a couple of mushrooms… they would all be at least one rupee, right?

He walked his new companion down the slope to the stable, thinking on his troubles that he had just faced. When he was on the plateau he didn't realise that those monsters were smart enough to ride horses, and it made him wonder if they were capable of other advanced things too, such as working in groups with other types of creatures. It was a scary thought, seeing as he had only come across groups of two or three monsters in the past, never more, and he wasn't sure if he could handle more than that. But never mind that - he had a horse to saddle.

“Hello there! Welcome to the Wetland Stable. I can see that you have caught yourself a wild steed there, young man! Would you like to register it with us? It’ll only be twenty rupees.” The stable master grinned at him from over the desk, eyes twinkling as he admired Link’s horse.

Link himself had to admit that she was quite an elegant lady, with her white hair covering her hooves, dark hair, and mostly brown coat. The only exception to her coat was her rear, which was white with spots. There were also the marks, but even with them she looked quite striking.

Or at least to him, she did.

Link felt shy for a moment when he addressed the man, “I’m… not good with money. Twenty rupees is the red one, right?”

The man behind the counter laughed at him, much to Link’s dismay, but answered honesty, “Yes sir! Can't blame you for not knowing though, I've had customers ask me if I’d take food in exchange for a saddle before now. I’m not opposed to a good meal, but no one cooks like my misses, you know?”

The rupee shined on the counter in the afternoon night, but not for long, as the man took it and put it behind the counter. Then he leaned out, “Oi! Ollie!” Another stable hand got up from where he leant against a box, “Saddle up this guy’s horse, will ya?” He then turned back to Link, “We’ll sort her out in a bit, but in the meantime we need to sort out some paperwork.”

He slid a clipboard out from under the counter, and tapped his quill against the small pot of ink before handing it to Link. He began to explain, “We need your name, your age, and your horse’s name too. I’ll put her description down when you’ve finished, and also make a tag for her in case she gets lost. We always tag our horses, so if you ever lose her but know where you left her, we will go retrieve her free of charge.”

Link took the quill, writing sloppy but still legible, but he paused when he came to the horse’s name. He thought for a moment, before asking, “What names are most common?”

The man hummed, “Well, flower names are pretty common; Daisy, Lavender, Rose, those sorts of names. Oh, and for some reason actual names too. I once had a horse come through called ‘Prince Sidon’ after the Zora prince, you know? The rider was a weirdo - she had a thing for Zoras. The ‘I admire them for their.. Fishy-ness’ kinda thing, if you catch my drift, ya know?”

Link didn't catch his drift, but nodded anyway. He thought about the name for his horse a little more before scribbling something down. He handed the paper back over for the stable master to file.

“‘Champion’? That’s not bad, actually. You planning on doing something heroic with her, then? Go on an adventure, see the sights?”

Link grinned and nodded. The other stable hand whistled at him, “Your horse is tied to the tree when you're ready, sir.”

“Why not go inside? It’s getting late, and we have beds here, too, both soft and normal. And this travelling merchant came by earlier. He has arrows for that empty quiver of yours if you're interested. Just between you and me though,” The stable master leant out of his window, whispering, “He’s a little eccentric. I don't think he gets many customers, so he’s a little, uh, _forward_.”

 

“Hey! I don't think I've seen your face around Hyrule before. I’m Beedle-” Link went to wave, but Beedle continued anyway, “If you ever forget my name, you can remember it by my beetle shaped backpack. So? What are you looking for, are you buying or selling?”

“Uhh,” Link said, “A bit of both.”

“Oh sweet! I love a bit of both, if you know what I mean? Which do you want to do first? I’ll buy _annnnyyyything._ ”

 

One hundred and forty five rupees richer, a quiver full of arrows, and a fitful night sleep later, Link waltzed into the early morning air with a smug grin on his face and a much lighter bag - all thanks to Beedle. Although Link wasn't particularly in the mood for exploring at the minute, instead bubbling to use the cooking pot he had seen outside earlier, wanting to give one of his own recipes a whirl for a change. He was thinking of making something using the butter he had bought the day before from another salesman, possibly the snails he got from the river, and maybe some rice to bulk it out a little.

The one and only thing that Link was craving but couldn't find was salt. It seemed to be the only thing that people didn't carry around with them, because as Beedle had said: “People only have one rock of it which they keep in their house and take from as they need. Carrying a whole rock would be too heavy.”

But Link didn't want a whole rock, he just wanted a little, and if it was the done thing to have an actual rock that he occasionally took from, then Link would just have to find a rock. Perhaps a town would be more likely to sell them, seeing as then the people living there would only have to walk a short distance to put them down. He made a note in the old man’s diary to check out Kakariko’s shop to see if they sold any.

“Hey there, do you mind if I sit?” A young lady said, motioning to one of the other stools near the fire. Link looked at her and nodded, so she proceeded to sit down.

Link was paying more attention to his cooking than the woman, but he noticed the not very subtle way that she was looking at him, with one elbow on her knee and her chin resting on her hand. Her hair, which was a light brown, was tied in a bun with a few stray strands falling into her face. She wasn't wearing a typical adventurer’s outfit either, forgoing the usual trousers and thick shirt for a shorter looking dress, which still came with all the typical gear - bag, boots, weapon and shield. Link was glad that she wasn't walking around without weapons, as he above everyone else knew how dangerous it got out here. He thought back to Champion’s poor back and repressed a shudder.

“You know,” The woman said, striking up a conversation, “It’s not often I see young looking guys like you around here. They usually stick to the villages. Well, then again, I don't suppose you see many people like me either.”

“What do you mean?” Link asked, adding the butter to help the snails soften.

“Well… you know…” She bit her lip, “Young, adventurous… just looking to see who’s out there.”

“Oh.” He said, not really knowing what to say. Was she looking to trade…?

“I know this is rather forward,” Link added the rice and some water from his canteen, letting the woman speak to him without interruption, “But I can't help but wonder how old you are.”

He hummed, and then said, “Seventeen.”

“My! That is young. I thought I was young at eighteen, but here you are sneaking up and besting me!” She giggled, “It’s almost like we were _supposed_ to meet one another out here.”

Link looked up into the distance, then turning to look at her, “What do you mean?”

“Well,” The woman leaned over, putting her hand on Link’s arm, “It’s just that I came out here to find someone _exactly_ like you.” Her voice turned husky. Link’s bemused smile fell. He wondered how quickly he could bottle his risotto and run. “And,” She continued, “I’m up for spending a little time together if you are.”

He pulled himself back, but her hand still rested on his leg, waiting for an answer. He breathed in deep, his face the same colour as an apple, and said, “No, thank you.”

The woman seemed a little shocked, but didn't question him, instead saying, “Oh. Well then, if you ever see me around and have changed your mind… I’m sure I’ll be up for it.” With that and a wink she got up and went inside the stable, leaving Link to his meal.

Despite the new quiet Link still felt impossibly uncomfortable, as if the woman coming and going was enough to permanently disturb the space that she had occupied, making him never want to sit next to this particular fire ever again. He wondered about what exactly attracted her to him - his hair, threadbare clothes, possibly even his horse, seeing as he had been cooing over her so much.

But there wasn't much use thinking on it now, as Link bottled the majority of his rice-thing (it definitely wasn't risotto, regardless of how he insisted it was in his head) and scooped up the few mouthfuls that were left, before going to the stable master to retrieve Champion. Today he would ride up the Saharsa Slope and into Kakariko.

He just hoped for once he would get answers rather than questions.


	4. Trade

The forest behind the stable had been fruitful, and Link was once again carrying a bag full of apples, various mushrooms, herbs, and a couple of round pink vegetables that he didn't recognise. From what he could tell, the vegetables were rather starchy, seeing as they were a type of root, and he couldn't wait to peel it and see what it was like inside. The cute little flower on top seemed good too, so when he picked the vegetable he slid the stem between the old man’s diary, hoping that the book would be enough to press and dry it out.

Link and Champion walked up the slope that lead to Kakariko, their movements slow as to not disturb the still healing wounds on Champion’s side and back. Thankfully, the saddle and bridle didn't disturb her, but Link had to keep kicking to a minimum. He wasn't upset with the pace, however, and so they soldiered on.

The sunlight was glorious, beaming down on them and casting shadows over the hillside, causing great gleams where it hit the wet rock faces on his left. A typical late morning, from what he could assume, with peaceful bird chirps and crickets, and red dragonflies fluttering about when Champion disturbed the grass. It seemed that below the slope was the wetland that the stable had been named after, full of tall, thin trees and puddles, and hopefully if Beedle was correct, plenty of small lizalfos.

He was aware that his fear of lizards wasn't something he had picked up since awakening, as during the night he recalled a time where he was below a great tower, with many children of a similar age, when he was attacked by one. Even though the memory was faded, he shuddered just thinking about it, thankful for whatever, or whoever, had saved his younger self from that things jaws. Now, as his older self, he realised that if he was to travel around Hyrule he would have to get used to fighting all sorts of creatures, unfortunately including the terrible lizards.

The wetland seemed like a good enough place - a few lizalfos, opportunities for him to pick more produce, and maybe even a chance for him to get used to swimming again, although he doubted there would be much in the way of deep water. He was also curious about a couple of supposed monsters in the swamp, one near to the tower that he had seen, and the other near the sheer cliff face. It would be an ample opportunity to see what they were, even if he didn't fight them, and even as he wandered up the slope he could see another shrine.

Looking ahead, Link could see where the slope reached its peak and began to descend into the hillside. He could also see another traveling merchant.

“Hello there,” Link said when they were within speaking distance, slowing Champion down so that they could talk. He was still rather awkward when it came to starting conversations, seeing as he wasn't the most in with the current language choices.

“Oh, hi!” The man said, putting his arm out to stop his donkey from continuing on without him, “Are you interested in trading?”

“Yes, um, what do you have to offer?”

The man went into detail with every item he sold, ranging from pumpkins and carrots he had got from Kakariko, to things he had found or bought on the road, including the likes of truffles and meat. He began to explain about the feud between the pumpkin and carrot farmers in the village, saying how they were the specialities of two respectable families.

“Just between you and me though, friend, I wouldn't side with either. I’m more of a radish man, myself.”

“What's a radish?”

“Oh, son! You can't spring that kind of question on me like that!” The man looked genuinely shocked, putting one hand over his heart and saying a prayer in a language that Link didn't know. “They’re these gorgeous red vegetables, only found in the wild, and usually in tough environments. If you happen to have any, I will _gladly_ trade these truffles for them.”

The man then proceed to take out two small, ashy coloured mushrooms, which he held away from the donkey for Link to inspect. Link didn't really know what to make of them, seeing as they were so small, but he had at least five radishes and no truffles, so he made the trade anyway.

“I’m not going to lie,” Link smiled, “I didn't know if those things were edible until I talked to you.”

“Oh it’s no worries, son. You’d be surprised at how few people can actually cook, considering how much travelling there is going on right now. If you're in search of tips, I can tell you that truffles take kindly to being flavouring more than the actual base of a meal, seeing as they're so small. Radishes are the opposite, if you ask me, but they _can_ be eaten raw if you're desperate. Wouldn't recommend eating any raw meat or mushrooms though, but you know that.”

“Uh huh.”

A few minutes later Link walked away with a pumpkin strapped to his saddle and a couple of carrots, adding to his collection of obscure items. He wondered on what the man had said about people not being able to cook, and wondered if he could perhaps sell meals for more than the sum of their parts.

Perhaps that was something he could test out when he reached his destination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short chapter, but again, the next one is a long one. I hope you are all enjoying the story so far - I know retelling link's story after waking up is an often done topic, so I hope I'm at least able to put a spin on it. 
> 
> I really apriciate the Kudos so far, so thank you for those. :)


	5. Kakariko

Kakariko was enclosed in all directions by mountains, giving it natural fortification against everything but the wind and the rain, also leaving the village in an eternal shadow. The village was constantly being buffeted by a breeze, which made the wooden chimes that hung overhead knock together in an odd sort of harmony, giving it some noise where there would otherwise be none. While people milled about, watching Link as he entered, he noticed the odd style of their clothing, all made with extra fabric and sashes, and furthermore their painted faces.If Link were either braver or stupider he might pause to ask, but instead he continued their trot further into the village, taking care not to disturb any of the people who watched him.

When he reached a fire pit and the Goddess statue he dismounted, before tying Champion to the tree nearby.

He could feel a thousand invisible eyes tracking his movement, searching him for any sign of weakness or disrespect, and Link shuddered under their gaze. Nearby there were two men who stood guard outside a house, both watching him with distrust evident on their face, but as soon as Link turned to face them, the expression vanished.

“I’m looking for Impa,” Link said to them both, but they were already moving aside.

“Please,” The man on the right said, “Go right ahead. She is expecting you.”

Link looked at them both, feeling a subtle shift in the atmosphere of the village. Although he still held the attention of everyone in the shadows, it was no longer the fact that he was new. Instead they were looking at the Sheikah Slate, ever-present on his hip, like it was some kind of artefact that they would recognise from anywhere. It disturbed him, knowing that he could be so identifiable to so many without even having to say a word to them, and it made him wonder if anyone on the road would notice it too. He knew that whenever there was something important, there was always someone lurking, ready to take it at any opportune moment.

Approaching the house now felt like he was undergoing a welcoming ceremony of some sort, although he was certain that there was supposed to be fanfare, like cake or balloons or something. Each pair of imaginary eyes turned away from him, leaving him just outside the door to the prestigious looking home.

A woman was crouched nearby, cleaning the floor.

“Um, excuse me-”

“Wha- Oh! A man!” The woman leapt up, covering her face with both hands, but before Link could say anything she interrupted him again, “Huh? Is that-?! It’s... a Sheikah Slate! Could you be the hero my grandmother told me about? What was his name? Li… Lin… um. “

“Link.”

“Oh, it’s not that I forgot, I’m just bad with speaking. As for me, my name is pa… paaa… paaay... oh! My name is Paya!”

“Um. Nice to meet you?”

“Phew! I got it out…” Link smiled at her gently, like she was a particularly jumpy horse, and she continued, “I know I should be able to say that easily, seeing as it’s my own name and all. Anyway, my grandmother has been awaiting your return ever since I was little.” She bowed at him, and he was about to do the same before she continued, “Ple… please hurry inside.”

For some reason Paya didn't say anything more, instead covering her face once more with her hands, giving Link ample time to wonder what was wrong before he stepped towards the door. Gently, as to not appear rude, he pressed on one of the doors.

Both flew open, letting Link almost fall trough, but the woman who was in the room didn't seem to care for his grand entrance. She sat there a moment, before her head rose so that he could actually see the frail woman under a hat that must have weighed twice her own. She patted her knee, almost in humour, and said, “So… you're finally awake. It has been quite a long time, Link.” She punctuated every word with a pause, and continued with her introduction just as he was about to ask if she was Impa, “I am much older now, but you remember me, don't you?”

He suddenly felt awkward, wandering into an old woman's home with clothes that were hardly appropriate, given her grand state of dress. He shuffled his feet.

“What's the matter? You are looking at me as though I am a stranger to you. Those eyes… they lack the light of familiarity. It is I, courageous one. Impa. Surely you must remember the name Impa?”

His skin crawled under her scrutinising gaze, wishing that she hadn't used the title to address him. It felt so wrong somehow, like she was intentionally using it because it didn't apply to him. And to further this, she was now staring at him in expectation of an answer. He gave the only one he knew that he could give:

“I… don't remember.”

“So you've lost your memories? Well, it matters not,” Link begged to differ, but let her continue, “In fact, it may be a blessing in disguise for the time being. Dearest Link, please come a bit closer.”

He didn’t agree with her other statement either, but Link let the doors shut behind him, allowing himself the small pleasure of kneeling on the floor before her instead of standing. She didn't seem to care about his state of dress, but still looked at him over the brim of her hat with nothing but pity and judgement in her eyes, almost like she was contemplating an insect with no wings.

“A hundred years ago… yes… one hundred years ago, the kingdom of Hyrule was destroyed. After you fell, Princess Zelda’s final wish was to place you in a sacred slumber. And then… all alone… alone she went to face Ganon. Before Princess Zelda went to nobally face her fate… she entrusted me with some words she wished for me to say to you.”

Link nodded, face solemn. He didn’t comment on her over-use of pauses.

“I have been waiting one hundred years to deliver the Princess’ message. However!” Link jolted, having almost fallen asleep, “These words, which the princess risked her life to leave you… well, if you are to hear them… You must be prepared to risk your life as well. But I am afraid that burden may be too much to bear when you are still without your memories. I leave the choice to you. When you feel like you are ready to receive the Princess’ message, return to me.”

Impa let her head drop, her hat falling to cover her face once again. Link sat for a moment, waiting to see if she would do anything else, before he gathered the courage to ask, “When will I know?”

“The words that the princess risked her life to impart to you… I cannot pass them onto someone who lacks conviction. Are you prepared to risk your life for the greater good?”

Link stared at the floor, unmoving. Impa lowered her head again.

“But what about my memories?” Link looked up at her again, his brow furrowed. Surely that was something he had the right to know.

Impa looked at him again, her eyes narrowed, “Yes, I suppose responsibility is hard to manifest when there are other things on the mind, even if there is a princess and an entire kingdom at stake.”

Link went to protest, beginning to stand when she went on, “Seek out Purah at the Royal Ancient Technology Laboratory in Hateno. It’s further east from here. She will be able to help you on your quest for your memories.”

He nodded at her in thanks, then, with as much pride as he could muster after being rejected, he turned and fled the village.

 

“I don't need a _stupid dumb idiot prophecy_ to save the princess, isn't that right Champion? I just need, like, a big sword. Maybe a bow. Am I willing to risk my life? _No!_ Am I willing to burst into the castle, bows aflame, rip that Ganon guy apart, and get Zelda back to whoever is waiting for her? Yeah! What we can take from this, Champion, is that Impa doesn't care about me, but cares about the princess. She just wants that girl back, regardless of whether or not I die in the process. So if I wanna get the better of Impa, I need to save Zelda without actually saying that I’m ready to.”

Champion nodded along, content to saunter down the hill that supposedly lead to the Duelling Peaks Stable. Even though the town had an inn, shop, clothing store, and a fire pit to cook on, Link didn't feel comfortable staying in that place overnight, especially after their elder had shunned him to the extent that Paya had bragged  about it to apparently everyone, and the eyes had returned when he made his way out of the village.

Even going into the clothing shop had been awkward enough, with him spending what few rupees he had on a new set of trousers. A shirt would have to wait, and seeing as the only ones they had were either strangely coloured or weirdly shaped, he couldn’t say that he wanted them anyway. The woman in the shop had looked at him in a funny way anyway, always with her eyes on him like she was inspecting something.

He wasn’t wearing his new clothes now, however. It would be good to get clean before putting them on, since they were new and all. Really all he wanted was a bar of soap and a way of getting hot water, but seeing as everyone’s water supply either came out of a well or a river, Link supposed he would just have to wait and have another cold bath in a lake.

Champion tugged on the reins, and Link leant down to sooth her again.

“We’ll work our way around the legend, Champion. We don't need it.”

Link turned the corner on the hill, coming horse to face (if it _was_ a face) with a korok, bigger than any he had seen so far. It stood alone under a tree, looking as if it was waiting for someone who was probably not going to arrive, based on how it was looking at the ground in dismay.

Link strode over, aware of the fact that they were usually hidden. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Wha- YOU CAN SEE ME?”

Link leant back as it yelled, trying to calm his horse when she startled.

“It’s been so long since someone has been able to see me! Over one hundred years!” Link winced - the last thing he wanted was _another_ hero story. “I’m Hestu! I really need you help, those nasty monsters up there stole my maracas.”

Hestu pointed at a small archway made of rock further up the path.

“Uhh, stole what?”

“My precious maracas, silly! I can't do magic without them. Please, mister! If you can get them back I can do magic for you!”

Link sighed, wanting nothing more than a bath in the river and a night at the stable, but if he was the only one that could see Hestu, then who else could help him? And if he brushed him off now, instead following through with his own desires, what would Hestu think of him, or any of the other koroks think of him for that matter?

“Alright,” He sighed, drawing his bow and ignoring Hestu’s happy squeal.

“Oh thank you Mr. Hero! I’ll wait here for you!”

He sighed at the name and trudged off, slumped over his bow to lessen the noise his footprints, but when he reached the edge of the hill near to where Hestu had pointed he realised that he needn't have bothered. Bokoblins, and by the sound of it there were three. Those things were incapable of hearing anything when there were more of them, especially since these ones were yelling and screaming about something. Their eye sight seemed equal to his own, however, and so he didn't turn around the corner to get a better look.

 _This shouldn't take too long,_ he thought, obviously wrong.

 

“Oh, you're back!” Hestu said, oblivious to Link’s fresh black eye. And his bruised knuckles. And the cut on his thigh, which was bleeding freely into his boot. “Sooooooo… did you get my maracas back yet? They better not be shaking them…” Hestu shook in rage, but it looked like he was just doing it to further his point. Link took the strange instrument from his bag, holding them out for Hestu to take. Hestu squealed, taking them back with no lack of excitement, but then his leaves wilted.

“There's something wrong with my maracas! The Korok seeds inside are gone! How am I supposed to dance now? The children of the forest must have taken the Korok seeds from my beloved maracas. I never thought I would be the target of one of their pranks. But wait,” Hestu sniffed the air, alternating directions before his focus turned to Link, “You got a Korok seed from one of the forest children! If you give me one, just one, I can expand your weapon inventory!”

Link’s eyes lit up. “You can let me hold more weapons?”

“Yes!”

“Bows?”

“Yes!!”

“Shields?”

“Yes!!!”

“Swords?”

“One hundred times YES!!”

“Whoa, one hundred?”

“Well, maybe not. But I can do all of those things!”

Link pulled out the small bag that contained the seeds, and then asked, “How many seeds do I need to get a stash?”

“Oh one for each. But then it goes to two, and then three, and then four…”

 

The sun was setting over Hyrule, bringing with it a cold and bitter wind that chilled Link to his very soul. It seemed that around these parts it got much colder at night in comparison to the day, and the sweat that he had built up from riding in the sun all day was finally starting to actually cool him down. But what Link wanted right now wasn't a cooling breeze but a bath, or a heavy rainstorm, so that he could actually work out the knots in his hair and maybe give his clothes a scrub too.   
Champion was also in need of a break, as her wounds on her back were starting to seem in need of a clean again. Although she was soldiering on as she had the day before, Link knew that it wasn't good to keep moving the wounds, and it was important to give them time to heal.

 _Hypocrite_ , he thought, looking with his still open eye at the gash on his leg, then his knuckles.

He knew was that the Duelling Peaks stable had a whole selection of rivers and other bodies of water nearby, and seeing as it was getting late the usual bathing areas would hopefully be quiet enough for him to be alone. Silea lake was just one of the many he could choose from, but seeing as it was closest he turned Champion off the road and along the bank, going further up than perhaps necessary to ensure that no one would wander in on his private moment. Although hopefully when he was waist deep in water there wouldn't be anything private to be seen.

Link walked the not-quite road along the lakeside, looking right with suspicion over Ash Swamp. Hundreds of those machines littered the area, with legs sticking free of the ground and some bodies overturned, making the once peaceful landscape look more like a battlefield, even if it was one from hundreds of years ago. He glared as he went past one, willing it to stay dead. He was _not_ in the mood for running for his life.

Eventually he reached an area suitable for his tastes and dismounted, letting Champion off the reins to let her relax a little. As for Link, he was already pulling off his shirt and backpack, leaving them on a rock beside the lakeshore. His trousers, boots, and underwear were soon to follow, and he gently lowered himself into the water, hissing when the chilled liquid hit his aching skin.

“Maybe we won't go to the stable,” Link said to Champion, thinking back on his slim bag of rupees. Those clothes hadn’t been as cheap as he was hoping, possibly because they were made with linen instead of something cheaper, like wool. Champion snorted, eating the long grass and clover. Link looked at her and giggled, then said, “Yeah. We’ll stay out here. Last thing I feel like doing is seeing more people. And spending money.”

He sighed deeply, leaning back on the rock. In this very moment Link could have slept for another hundred years, with the worries from the day gone, and his eyes drifting shut under and unfamiliar sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slightly longer chapter, but i think theyre going to get a bit less fequent with the next too again being quite long. The story is looking to be 8 chapters at the minute, but it might spill over a bit :P
> 
> Thank you again for all the Kudos. Please leave comments if youre enjoying the story, as theyre really the thing that keeps me going. :)


	6. Darkness

The road through the Duelling Peaks wasn't as fast as the one through Kakariko he had taken the day before, but it still brought him back to the same stable, although this time the woman who had been interested in him was gone, much to his own relief. Nothing had changed from the day before at the Wetland stable, there were still the same men saddling peoples horses, the same man behind the counter, and even the same guy picking about in the cargo in search of scraps that he could sell on for a bit of extra money.

Link went straight to the stable master.

“Hello there young man! How can I help you today?”

“I’d like to board my horse,” Link said, pulling Champion closer when the apples on a crate distracted her.

“You want to board Champion?” Link nodded, “Alrighty then, just give us a moment and we’ll take her off your hands.”

 

With Champion left to rest, Link decided upon using the rest of the day for his own benefit, even if his internal self disagreed - He was going to fight a lizalfos. So with the waning moon rising and the sun beginning to fall, he slipped out of the stable and slid down the hillside to get to the wetlands faster. With his slightly less than perfect soldier’s spear in hand he began to wade through the calf-deep water.

It wasn't easy going - even though the water was shallow, the mud underneath was sticky and insisted on stealing his shoes, much to Link’s dismay. One of the larger islands nearby was supposedly a good place for lizalfos hunting as they very rarely came onto the land, instead preferring to lay in wait around it. Even though Link was sure that the lizalfos would hear him coming regardless of how he tried, he still attempted to keep the splashing to a minimum, which in the end did work to his benefit.

A few metres ahead of him lay a lizalfos, its body camouflaged to match the murky swamp water that it was half buried in. if it wasn't for the arched slope of its back sticking out the water, Link may have actually fell for its trick, but it wasn't actually that well hidden in the light.

He was near Wes Island, if he could remember correctly, and he desperately hoped that if this went south it would be people that heard his screams and not more monsters.

He lunged. The lizalfos pounced.

_Clang!_

They met, the lizard’s screaming face inches from his own, but Link wasn't nine any more, and his weapon was more than a stick. He twisted, pulling the head of the spear against the blade, pulling it, and thus the monster, to the side, and the spear slid through his hands into a ready position.

It was fast, he’d give it that, and for what it lacked in bulk it made up for in intelligence. It wasn't as easily pleased with full-force attacks as the bokoblins were, instead leaping back when Link went to stab, rushing forward when he took a step back, and above all it wasn't sinking into the mud.

Link gritted his teeth, thrusting the spear forward and catching the lizalfos in the arm, wincing as it let out a scream. He again raised the handle to it, stopping the sharp blade from slicing through his head, but that didn't stop the weapon from going halfway through the wood of his own.

He knew that the spear was almost done for, but the lizalfos was too enraged to notice, leaping back again when Link pulled the spear into a striking position

This was his chance!

He threw the spear as hard as he could, wincing when the pointed end went straight into the creature’s chest and out the other side, the body of the spear splintering halfway through. The thing screeched, flailed, and fell back into the water, its body turning black before it turned back into the evil smoke that had created it.

 _Well,_ he thought, entire body shaking, _t_ _here’s one down. Only Hylia knows how many more to go_.

 

When Link came to the wetland he hadn't intended on fighting ever monster he came across, but twenty five dead lizalfos, one shrine, and sixteen picked fleet-lotus seeds later, Link was still in the wetland and facing his worst enemy: mosquitoes.

Whoever gave those things the right to exist, be it Din, Nayru or Farore, needed to be questioned.

Now that Link was on dry land it had become immensely easier, no longer wasting his energy slogging through the thick water and mud and reeds, and instead he trudged around in wet clothes with a whole multitude of weapons on hand; Lizalfos boomerangs, some with forks in the blade, a soldier's sword, and a couple of lizal spears. Thanks to Hestu, Link could now hold more than just three weapons in the enchanted bag, but he still had to pick and choose since he was coming across so many. It felt like around every corner he was coming across bigger and better ones, but with the increased amount of weapons came an increased amount of monsters - Lizalfos launching themselves from the water, bokoblins hiding behind trees, keeses and chuchus and-

“Oh, Hylia-”

Link slapped a hand over his mouth, stumbling backwards and behind a tree.

What was _that?_

He’d only caught a glimpse, but the creature was a mottled red colour, its enormous size eclipsing the tower that Link had been wandering to, and its rumbling snores echoing back off the surrounding walls. Link had noticed the snores, but because he hadn't realised that such a creature existed he had thought it was some moving water, perhaps the roar of a waterfall or the gushing of a stream. He had also considered the lizards, as their strange croaking sounds tended to vary in pitch.

 _This_ wasn't something he had considered.

Link peaked around the tree to examine it again. In the muted moonlight he could see very little when it came to the monsters features, especially since Link was looking at its feet rather than its head, but he noticed the lack of protection on its spindly legs, the thick swell of its belly, and finally, the glinting of the weapons on its neck.

A Soldier’s claymore, a silver bow, and most impressive of all, a royal broadsword.

 _Okay_. _This isn't something I can pass up._

The lizal spear in his hand was near breaking, with its tip blunt and the binding loosening, but Link gripped it as surely as he had gripped Champion’s reins, inching towards the great beast like it could wake at any moment. And it could - Link wasn't the sneakiest of men, and his sopping boots didn't help the matter, squelching with every step.

He was less than a metre away from the things side now, and Link watched it for a moment, just waiting for its single beastly eye to turn to him and open. But it didn't. And Link waited. But it still didn't, and yet Link waited.

He inched a bit closer, considering his options. Then finally one sprung to mind.

Link put the almost-broken spear back in his bag and drew out another, this time an enhanced lizal spear. He got as close as he dared, and drawing back his spear, readied himself.

The tip of the spear drove into the monster’s side in a flurry of stabs, Link’s arm shaking the whole time. His heart leapt, the monster’s snoring stopped, and it’s single eye opened.

The creature went to stand, and Link grabbed the worn spear again, readying his aim. It looked it him, its rotten eye bright yellow in the darkness as its head eclipsed the moon. Link threw.

The monster screamed, its voice deep and gravelly, echoing all around Link like his actions were causing the world to end, but Link stayed firm, taking the opportunity to draw his bow and take aim.

The earth shook when the beast went down, its hands coming to cover its eye and its feet shaking, almost like it was trying to defend its stomach more than the rest of its body. Link shot an arrow into its arm, which seemed to do nothing, and then again. The thing got to its feet, blinking at nothing, and then it turned to Link once more.

This time the creature had learned its lesson, reaching up with one hand to block its eye when Link once again took aim. His arrows joined the others.

Then it changed direction, reaching down to uproot a nearby tree. The roots screamed as they tore, but neither Link nor the beast noticed, with one too focused on swatting the insect and the other too busy dodging the colossus’ swings.

But Link wasn't as quick as he should have been.

The tree swept across the playing field, catching Link in the stomach, and when the swing reached its penultimate point, Link flew into the water.

Everything ached. His ribs felt like they had been pulled to pieces, and lungs felt like they were full of water, but still Link stood, snatched up his better-spear, and threw that too.

Out of sheer, dumb luck the spear struck, imbedding itself in the monsters wrist and staying there, and again the thing wailed as it reached to remove it. Link didn't waste a moment, grabbing his bow again he nocked his final arrow. He took aim.

The thing _screamed_.

Link dropped the bow, covering his ears with both hands, yelling along with it as it fell back to the ground. _Whump._ Gradually the noise lessened, and then stopped entirely. Link looked up.

The Hinox was dead.

But Link wasn't too far behind.

 

Thankfully, as he had already taken care of most of the monsters, Link didn't have to fight anything else when he walked (or limped, if he cared to be accurate) back to the path to the stable. He wasn't able to move as fast as he wished he could, with his entire torso red from what would inevitably become purple bruises. He was just glad that he hadn't become that things meal.

Reaching dry land, Link pulled off his boots and poured out the water that had collected in them, watching as a small ecosystem of pond weed and tiny fish followed with it. He sighed and left them off for his small walk up the hill, letting his feet finally get dry after the six or so hours spent in the wetlands. Even though he had washed his hair the day before, Link felt like he needed another one at that very moment, and seeing as he had been dunked underwater in those final moments of battle he thought he deserved one too.

 _Everything_ smelt like the wetlands: his shoes, his hair, his clothes and his skin. The weapons he picked up from the beast probably smelt like it too, and seeing as Link had nothing else to wear it meant that he would be smelling the mould for a while. He sighed.

After another hour of limping, Link reached the stable and went inside, leaning heavily on the counter as the stable master went to greet him.

“Hi there, welcome to the- Oh, Nayru-” the man pulled back as soon as he smelt Link, cutting himself off before he could continue with his introductions. Link said nothing, still leaning against the counter and as unimpressed as he could have possibly been. The man started again when he noticed Link’s look, “Uh, welcome to the Wetland stable. We offer two types of accommodation; the regular bed for twenty rupees, and the soft bed for forty. Which would you like?”

“Do you have anywhere nearby that i can bathe?” Link asked, ignoring the question entirely.

“Oh, with the soft bed we can offer a bath for you, if you’d like one. And I’m sure my misses won't mind giving your clothes a scrub if you fell into the wetlands.”

For the first time that day Link smiled and he gladly handed over the rupees.

 

“Oh dear, you do look like a drowned puppy, you poor boy,” The stable master’s wife said, ushering him into the back room. Although small, the room was obviously somewhere that wasn't often seen by the other stable-goers, seeing as it was clean and homely. A wooden bath sat to the side, with a curtain separating it from the rest of the room. There was also a stool in front of a small bucket with soapy water, a clotheshorse, and a modest sized bed.

The woman continued, “If you like I can give your clothes a wash while you're in the bath, seeing as they need it.”

“Yes please,” Link said, relieved to actually have his clothes washed in soap.

She laughed, putting one hand to her chest, “I sure didn't have to tell you twice! Well, if you just pop behind the curtain and undress then I’ll get started on them for you, honey. I’ve already poured the bath.”

Link stepped behind the screen, pulling it to and doing as the woman said before he considered himself. “You, uh, don't have to wash my-”

“Oh, shush you. I have four boys myself, two around the same age. Washing your underclothes isn't going to be any different from washing theirs.”

Link still hesitated, but then did what the woman asked and handed her all of his clothes. He could hear her walk away again and sit on the stool, and Link didn't hesitate in climbing into the bath, sighing as the almost too warm water hit his frigid toes. The smell of lavender washed over him, seeping into every crack and crevice of his being with the soul intention of getting him to relax. Link sighed, letting his head dip under the water for a moment to let the scent soak into his hair as he untied the small ponytail at the back.

It hadn't been often that Link had the fortune to let his guard down, and the last time he had done so fully was when he was at the old man’s cabin, seeing as someone with capable hands was there to protect him should something have gone awry. Even when he had slept in an alcove after dropping off the Great Plateau, or when he had stayed in the stable a couple of nights ago he had slept with a knife under his pillow and a sword by his side, since wandering monsters were such a likely possibility.

“When was the last time you had a bath, my boy?”

Link hummed, “Yesterday night.”

“With soap, I meant.”

He paused, thinking back on his travels, but that inevitably lead him to the plateau, and thus the empty barrier behind it. He looked at the bath water and said, “A while.”

“Aw son, I’ll tell you what. If you want to be successful on your search out there you gotta keep clean, right? You're never gonna get yourself a girl if you smell like sweat and grass. Or a boy, I’m not judging.”

Link lowered his head into the water further, letting his heated skin touch it, like that would help his flush go down.  _Why did everyone think he wanted a relationship?_  

“Amaranth is good for that. It’s got a lot of oils in it, so if you boil it down and skim the top, then add flavourings to that, you've got yourself a nice bar of soap. It aint no bubble bath, but it sure is better than nothin’.”

“Where do you get Amaranth?”

“North of here has a fair bit, like Akkala or near to the Foothill stable. Not many people sell it, seeing as it doesn't have much scent and isn't known for its beauty, but it’s as hardy as an evergreen, I’ll tell you that. Horses like it, too.”

“Maybe I should go. That's where the volcano is, isn't it?”

“Nearby, yeah. Death Mountain ain’t the best though. The Divine Beast up there has been reigning havoc for _years_ now. Stupid thing keeps causing eruptions on the poor Gorons. I visited Goron City once when I was just a little girl. Lemme tell ya, that place is hot! If I hadn't had a potion I would have burnt up!”

Link looked up from the water. _Divine Beasts,_ he thought, _Why is that familiar?_

“The Divine Beast… Is it old?”

“Oh yeah, older than me, if you can believe it!” She laughed, “The thing was dug up about a hundred years ago, and as soon as that whole ‘unleashing evil’ thing happened it went bad, but to be honest I don't think they were ever good to begin with. I think there’s four of them in total.”

“All at Goron city?”

“No, there’s one for the Zora, too. The other two are further west, so I haven’t seen them myself. Anyway,” he heard the woman get up, “Your clothes are on the drier when you're ready, honey. I’ll pour the water from your bath out when you leave tomorrow, so don't worry.”

“Oh. Thank you-”

“No worries, son. Good luck out there, and remember what I said about the soap!”

 

Getting out of the bath _hurt._

Examining himself in the moonlight with his hands splayed across his chest, Link traced his scars and cuts, and also the body-wide bruise that he had gained from his most recent encounter.

_I should be thankful that thing didn't hit my head instead._

Link shuddered at the thought - not only would there be the fact that he was killed, but also the fact that the thing _would_ have eaten him if it had got the chance. Still though, Link considered himself unlucky to have been caught out by that swing anyway. If he had just jumped backwards instead of to the side then he could have avoided the tree altogether, or maybe if he had jumped over it that could have worked just as well. Or maybe ducking was the answer.

He wasn't sure when he would next encounter one of those things (hopefully it would be never) but he wasn't eager to have a repeat performance. Since the blue bokoblins and lizalfos seemed to be stronger than their red counter parts, it was reasonable to assume that somewhere out there was a blue Hinox. And yes, Hinox, seeing as that was what the man talking in hushed whispers in the stable.

“I saw it, man,” He murmured, unaware that Link could hear them talking, “He straight up threw a spear into that Hinox’s eye, the one in the wetlands.”

“Don't lie to me man, that kid’s smaller than my ten year old niece.”

So yes, a Hinox.

Link wasn't overly fond of them.

Whether or not he would find another on his journey to Death Mountain remained to be seen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next two chapters are HUGE, but the next one is already finished and currently stands at almost exactly 6000 words. I hope you like this little detour chapter :)


	7. The Climb

With a chest covered in scars and bruises and cuts, and a head full of dreams, Link rode north on Champion with one thing in mind: Goron City.

The imposing Death Mountain wasn't enough to deter him, the sky-obscuring smoke did little to shake his boots, and the introduction of moblins to his list of monsters did nothing either. What _did_ make Link force Champion into a halt, however, was a not-quite man walking the path towards Zelo Pond and the bridge that Link had just crossed.

A Goron.

A memory flooded back to him, almost toppling off Champion with the force of it -

 

_Hey little guy-_

_He did the right thing fighting back-_

_You've got courage, kiddo-_

_I’ll protect anyone-_

_You've got the sword-_

 

“Are you alright, brother?”

Link blinked, feeling hot tears run down his face and soak into his shirt, leaving dark marks in the thin fabric. He wiped at his eyes with his sleeve, sniffling to hold back from filling more. He looked to whoever asked him, coming face to face with the smiling Goron that he had just seen, even though he was no longer smiling. “Oh,” He said, embarrassed by his own reaction, “Yeah. I just- seeing you walking by that pond reminded me of a friend I used to have. I’m sorry.”

The Goron’s face fell, but he still smiled kindly at Link like he was the friend he had lost, “It’s no worries, bro. I’m sorry that you lost your friend. Are you heading north?” Link nodded. “Where to?”

“Goron City.”

“Oh what? No way, brother! You’ve really lucked out there, because I’m Boldon, the head of Goron City tourism. I’m heading there too, you know, although we have to go south first to get there. There’s no north road. But anyway,” Boldon pressed one of his huge hands to his chest, declaring, “You've made the right decision. Goron City is the best place to be by far! It used to be Hyrule Castle, but these days Hyrule Castle is just a creepy old ruin. The treasure hunters that sneak in there must be crazy!”

Link looked up, “What do you mean treasure hunters?”

“Looters, thieves. They go in there for whatever there could be that people will buy. Someone by the gates to Goron City has a crown that a Hylian folk sold to them, but I don't know if it’s an _actual_ crown. Something tells me they made it out of cart-tracks, gemstones and glue.”

“Anyway,” Boldon continued, “What leads you to Goron City, little guy?”

He ‘uhh’d for a moment, thinking, then settled on, “Business.”

“Business, hey? That’s not bad, actually. We don't get many people looking to trade because of the climate.”

“It’s hot, yeah?”

“Blood boiling. Literally!”

“Hard to get to?”

“Not too bad following the road, unless you're afraid of monsters.”

“Who me? No!”

“That’s right! We’re not scared!”

“So long as there isn't a Hinox.”

“No Hinox, brother. There’s a Talus, but you can go around it. Oh, and Guardians.”

Link paused. Champion and Boldon walked on, and so Link was dragged on too.

“Guardians?”

“Yeah, little guy.”

“Big ones?”

“Yep.”

“With legs?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh no,” He made Champion stop, and Boldon turned to face him, “I’m not ready to fight Guardians.”

“What? Why not? You said you could fight monsters-”

“Yeah, but they're _Guardians_.”

“Yeah, but you've got a shield. You can parry them.”

“ _What.”_

“Parry. Like-” Boldon made a movement with his arm, holding it close to his chest like he was carrying a shield, then flicked it. Link stared at him blankly, so he did it again.

Still nothing.

“Little guy, next bokoblin or whatever we come across you can try it with them. As soon as their weapon comes down,” He made the arm motion, “And boom! Massive opening to attack!”

Link shuddered at the thought of facing a Guardian, let alone the idea of going at it with a shield and no sword. Boldon didn't share his anxieties, instead saying, “We could climb if it made you feel better. I know their patrol routes.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, with a bit of climbing they're not too hard to avoid. You just gotta make sure that they don't see you, or else they’ll start charging it up.”

“Their laser?”

“Yeah, bro, their laser.”

Link considered this. So far he had been mostly grounded, only climbing when absolutely necessary or when there was a particularly appealing rushshroom up a ledge, but this might be an opportunity he couldn't pass up. Guardians were terrifying. Encountering one wasn't on his to-do list any time soon, but if the road to Death Mountain was supposedly one with them on it, he guessed that he would have to at least see one, even if he didn't fight it. Even the little Guardians in the shrines he had found so far weren’t the easiest things to take down, all favouring ranged attacks instead of rushing close, and when Link did actually get up to them, they would always scramble back like spiders.

One rather useful thing he had learnt facing these mini-Guardians was that their ‘eye’ was the most sensitive part of them, making a bow and arrow his most useful tools when facing them. This still left the issue that the Guardians would have to be looking straight at him in order for him to fight back, but so far his aim had been true.

He didn't want another star-shaped scar to envelope the other half of his torso.

He didn't want to go back to sleep.

“We’re getting close to the mouth of the Zora River now, brother. You wanna try taking down a few of the bokoblins on the way up to that tower thing? You could try the parry that I was talking about.”

Ah. Right. The tower.

Link looked at the Bone Pond, the spiralling climb up to the tower, and the already obvious amount of monsters that resided on the cliff. During the night he had seen it as nothing more than a tower on a hill, ready to be climbed whenever he felt like it, but now, in daylight, it looked like an opportunity just waiting to be taken. Boldon looked at the tower, squinting at it in suspicion.

“I don't know if that was there a week ago, bro, I walk this route pretty often.”

“Maybe it wasn't,” Link said, “But I need to climb it.”

“You do?”

“Yep,” Link got off Champion, pulling his fingers through her hair, then asked Boldon, “Do you wanna wait? I don't mind catching up with you at the foothill stable.”

“I can wait,” Boldon said immediately, “I’ll watch your horse for you. How long might this take?”

Link whistled, looking the new challenge up and down with a not quite enthusiastic but not quite indifferent look on his face. “I hope it won't take this long,” He said, “But let’s say three hours.”

“Oh that’s not long.”

“What?”

“That’s not long. I don't mind waiting.”

Link looked back at him, then at the tower, tracing the tower down until he saw a clear way to get in. He drew his brand-new royal broadsword and his rusty shield, and walked onto the lizalfos owned bridge.

“Good luck, brother! I believe in you!”

With the well wishes of Boldon by his side, Link’s smile turned dangerous.

 _This will be fun_.

 

This was fun.

Kicking bokoblins off high ledges, smacking moblins in the mouth with their own spears, shoving lizalfos down stairs.

Being electrocuted by a thing in a coat.

All good fun.

In all seriousness though, Link had no idea how to deal with the thing - when it saw him it disappeared, when he shot at it he missed, and when he was zapped he dropped all his weapons. Even his tried and true method of launching his weapon at it didn't work, just leaving him with nothing on hand. He switched to the spiked boko club he had found on his way up, praying that the thing hadn't seen him dive behind the nearby rocks.

It squealed, stepping on air as it looked around to find him, but after a few gut-wrenching moments, Link heard it let out a disappointed chime as it stepped (dripped? It sounded wet) back to where it was before it had first seen him. He sighed in relief, taking a moment to have a breather. A breather that still ached like no tomorrow - his stomach had turned into a purple mess, and the added bonus of electricity had contracted his muscles to the extent where everything below his ribs and above his hips constantly pulsed with excruciating pain.

The robe guy made another cooing noise, and Link shuddered at the thought of being hit with another bolt.

He needed to consider his options:

 

_Climb up the cliff_

_Pros: get away from the robe thing._

_Cons: don't get to kill the robe thing. Robe thing will probably see me when I’m climbing._

 

_Fight the robe thing._

_Pros: might kill the robe thing._

_Cons: might also die._

 

Link looked at his tools and was struck with a lightning fast idea.

 

_Use wooden shield._

_Pros: robe thing cannot electrocute it._

_Cons: weaker shield, but can be switched out after fighting it. Also how will a wooden shield help?_

 

But how could a wooden shield help? Other than the fact that he wouldn't be electrocuted (which he had to admit was a pretty big bonus), Link still wouldn't be able to see the thing after it leapt out to attack. Was it really worth it? Link hadn't found any of the other towers so far, instead prioritising his time trying to get some ground under his feet. He also wanted to get to the Foothill stable by nightfall, and Boldon was waiting for him at the bottom of the tower -

Boldon.

Boldon said that parrying the Guardians was a thing, and had then said he could practice on monsters when they brought their weapon down on him, but whether or not that _could_ be a thing was up for debate. It sounded like a timing puzzle, and even though Link had a clock on his slate, he wasn't very good at estimation. The robe thing didn't seem to be in and of itself _electrified,_ rather, it was the weapon it carried that was the source of the energy. If he could reflect the bolt back into it, would he get an opportunity to strike with the bat?

Out of all of his options, this one was definitely the most certain, seeing as it both sounded and felt right.

Link really needed to find a solution to electrical enemies, and hopefully sooner rather than later.

Pulling out of his hiding spot, Link raised the shield as Boldon had shown him, his arm locking in position and his eyes staring down the creature. It’s hidden face snapped to him immediately, and it waved at him before poofing into thin air. Link, wise to its nasty disappearing trick by now, watched the droplet like steps until it appeared again.

It’s face, although the skin of it was hidden, peaked out from its hood like a nightmare, its teeth jagged and sharp, its eyes a beady yellow, and it’s hands ending in three inch claws.

It threw the bolts again and Link froze.

But Boldon didn't let him down. He flung his arm as the Goron had showed him, ricocheting the bolt back at the creature, but it dodged to the side, disappearing again. He did the same as before, waiting for the opportune moment. The bolt fired, he smacked it, and it bounced back, missing.

Then the creature appeared again, but instead of it immediately firing and then disappearing, it jumped up and down mid air, obviously infuriated with him.

This was his moment.

Link drew his bow at a speed that only a practiced archer could accomplish and fired, hitting the wizard-robe in the face. It jumped back, falling to the ground in a crumpled heap, and Link dived on it, bringing the bat down on its strange face with a horrific crunch.

 

“Hey, brother,” Boldon said when Link appeared from above.

“Hey man,” Link tucked away his paraglider, and then put both hands on his hips, “Oh, uh. Hello.”

Boldon wasn't alone. A Gerudo woman sat with him, her legs tucked under herself and the gem on the centre of her chest glistening. Link wasn't certain what she had done to make her lips blue, but it complimented her eyes, which were the same colour.

“Sav’saaba. Were you just on that tower?” She asked, raising a hand to point at it.

“Oh, um. Yes.”

She put her hand to her chin. “Interesting. I didn't know there was anything up them. Oh! How rude of me,” She stood, extending one hand for him to take, “I am Karsh. Are you going to the Foothill stable as well?”

Link nodded, and Boldon got up as well. “We both are, brother! Headed up to Goron city, too.”

Karsh raised an eyebrow, one hand on her hip. “Won't you catch fire?” She asked Link.

He shrugged, “Probably.”

She laughed, “Brave voe. I suppose you're familiar with elixirs then.”

Link went to nod but then stopped himself, “I've made one before now.”

“So you plan on buying them?” She asked then, tilting her head at him.

“I guess,” He said, kicking at the floor. A wet nose pushed against his face and he laughed, cupping Champion’s head in his hands.

“We should get going, brothers. Night fall is only getting closer.”

Link smiled at Karsh, “You're welcome to join us if you like.”

She smiled at him, “Thank you, I’m thankful for the company,” She said, “But if we come across any monsters then I’m leaving you two behind.”

 

“I don't know if I can stomach this, man,” Link said, leaning against the cliff with Boldon watching over him. His face was white as snow, lacking its usual flush or colour. Boldon was obviously worried, his blue eyes watching Link’s deteriorating form with a careful expression on his face. “I just- I can't. I’m not brave enough.”

“C’mon, bro. Just one little lizard? They don't bite.”

“They _do!”_

“Well, maybe they do. But they're all over the place! Catching one and making your own potion is just better, brother. That woman Gaile was selling them for way too much when you can just make them.”

Link shook his head again, his hair falling into his eyes. He felt sick to his stomach, his skin clammy and his hands covered in dirt. “It’s not worth it. I can't deal with those things.” He ignored Boldon’s protests, leaning his head back against the wall and watching him out of the corner of his eye.

“I saw you wreck those lizalfos, bro! You can handle a little lizard! Look,” Boldon rushed to a rock opposite where Link was sitting, picking something up. Link didn't need to look at it to know what it was, already screeching and scrambling up the wall he was just resting on. “No! Bro! Just come look at this little guy!”

“No!” he yelled, leaning back off the wall to look at Boldon, but instantly regretting it when he saw the little squirming reptile. He wailed again, pulling himself closer to the wall like it would stop him from having to see them.

“What about if I catch them and you keep them? Will that work?”

“No! I’ll still have them!”

“What about if we use the butterflies instead?”

“What?”

“Smouldering butterflies! They do the same thing, I think.”

Link slid down the wall, thankful to not be gripping the rocky surface with the tips of his fingers anymore. He sighed when he reached the ground, but eyed Boldon’s cupped hands carefully, like he was waiting for him to unleash some kind of great evil. Link picked up his pack again. “So butterflies do the same thing?”

“Yeah. Harder to catch though.”

“Alright. We’ll use butterflies.”

Boldon just seemed glad to have Link on the floor again, but he still kept his hands enclosed around the small lizard. “We should still use this one though, brother. We could go to the stable now and cook it, and then get the butterflies later.”

Link nodded, his face filled with determination.

He knew he had to get over this phobia - not only was it embarrassing, but also something that would hold him back. Beedle had been telling him about a red variety of lizard that was renowned for its healing effects when in an elixir, and Karsh had explained to him the day before the actual effects.

 

_“Unbelievable strength,” She had said, ignoring how Champion wanted a taste of her hair, and “It’s said to heal you of any wound, too No other insect can be used in its place, and the hearty lizards are easier to catch than the frogs. When my husband got knocked off a cliff it was that type of elixir that brought him back from the brink of death. He had broken ribs in that fall.”_

_“Ribs?” Link had said, “I didn't realise those could be broken.”_

_“Oh they can be,” She said, “Fairly easily in fact. If you're not careful out in the wilderness that sort of thing can kill quicker than a cheated vai.”_

_“Yeah brother!” Boldon said, “My brother had to drink ten of them when he took a dip into a lava pit! It was wicked!”_

_“What about bruises?”_

_“Yes, bruises are easily fixed by them too. Why do you ask, young voe?”_

_Link let go of the reins and tucked his shirt under his arms._

_“Hylians aren’t supposed to be that colour, brother.”_

_“Oh sa’oten! You were climbing walls like that?!”_

_“Yeah.”_

_Karsh tisked and pulled him off the horse, putting him on the floor. She pulled her own bag off too, rummaging around in it. “What’s wrong?” Link asked, “I can handle it. It’ll be better in a few days.”_

_“It will not,” She snapped, “That could have ruptured your internal organs, if they aren’t already. How did you even get like that?” She pulled a glittery red bottle from her bag and uncorked it, pausing to find a handkerchief. Pouring some of the solution onto the cloth, she then handed the rest of it to Link. “Drink it,” She commanded in a tone that could not be denied, and then set about cleaning the cut that was across his upper chest._

_“It was-” He hissed, “It was a Hinox.”_

_“What.”_

_“A Hinox. It hit me with a tree.”_

_“Young voe, if that were true then you would be dead. Where did you get these scars? My vure, they must be spread across your whole body!”_

_“A Guardian.”_

_“Brother, if that was a Guardian, and the bruises a Hinox, then I’m fairly certain that nothing can kill you.”_

_The laugh Link let out was bitter sweet. “I would say I knew nothing could kill me, but unfortunately I already know that isn't true.”_

 

Three butterflies.

Link had caught three butterflies in two hours.

And Boldon had caught forty-five lizards.

“Like I was saying brother, lizards are easier to catch.”

“Do you… do you want to keep the lizards?”

“No, if I have them I’ll probably just let them go again.”

Link thought for a moment, and then looked at the forty-eight bottles in total.

“I think I’ll have room in my bag for them.”

Boldon leant back, a big smile on his face as he watched the majority of the bottles disappear into the bag, leaving the tree butterflies and seven lizards out. Link then began to remove his collection of monster parts, putting them into the cooking fat to aid them in reducing. Moblin horns, bokoblin teeth, a few lizal claws, and a bottle of chu jelly, and the mixture was starting to look less like a collection of offal and instead more like a colourless soup. Boldon picked up one of the bottles containing a butterfly and uncorked it, shaking it over the mixture.

It fell, thankfully already dead, into the mixture. It turned a pale grey, and instead of smelling like trash it instead turned almost minty and sweet. Link picked up another jar and inspected the lizard inside.

He had to admit, with the barrier of the bottle in between it and his hands, it didn't seem too terrifying. Its small eyes looked at him dumbly, and its body didn't move, making him question if it was even alive at all. The little white quills on the side of its head, however, flexed with each breath.

Link uncorked the bottle and shook the lizard into the soup as well.

“You know, now that it doesn't smell like sulphur, I don't think I’d mind drinking it,” Boldon said, “Would you?”

“It’s okay,” Link said, “but I’m not sure if I’m comfortable eating animals like this.”

“Well brother, when it’s a case of your fiery end or theirs, I know which one I’d choose.”

Link wasn't entirely convinced.

“Is there really no other way?”

“Sorry, brother. Not that I can think of. Unless you have like a magical mask that turns you into a Goron, or the armour that’s sold in Goron City, this is your only option.”

“Wait, what?”

“What?”

“The armour.”

“There’s this guy,” Boldon began, “A brother from another bolder. He makes and sells clothes for Hylians that can stand the heat. But Goron City might as well be lava city right now, because we got rivers of the stuff coming through, so even if you wanted to buy the armour to get to Goron City, you’d still have to get to Goron City before you could buy the armour.”

“So to get to Goron City I need the armour, but to get the armour I need to go to Goron City. But to get to Goron City I need the elixirs.”

“But to get the elixirs you need the lizards.”

Link sighed and leant back, letting Boldon put the rest of the lizards into the elixir. When he eventually had, the liquid turned a dark colour, almost the colour of ash or charcoal. Boldon hummed, giving it a stir, “Looks about done, brother. You gonna taste it?”

With a deep breath to settle him, Link took the spoon from Boldon and raised it to his lips. The minty scent was no longer as powerful but still lingered, and the faint sweet smell from before had taken over. He put it to his lips and drank a little.

“Yeah,” he said, smacking his lips together as he swallowed the viscous liquid, “It tastes like… I don't know what it tastes like.”

“Something you’ve had before?”

“Definitely. I don't remember what though. Ugh, that’s going to make me go crazy, trying to figure that out.”

Boldon laughed, and then said, “Well, brother, you can figure it out when we start our walk up the mountain tomorrow. There’s a Guardian right by the mouth of our walk so let’s hope we’ve got our climbing belts on and buckled. Whatever a belt is.”

 

Link’s worst nightmares came to life in a walking, pivoting, laser beam machine, which patrolled the Death Mountain slope like it had been told to do so by a higher force, terrorising what few travellers would dare try and encroach on its domain. He watched through his slate as it moved towards them, stopped, looked around, and then left to do the same on the other side of the rock archway. This continued for some time.

“C’mon, brother. We need to make a move while the sun is still shining.”

And so up, up, up they went, using the cover of shadow to clamber the rock face and avoiding the Guardian in the process. While Link used all four limbs to climb, Boldon primarily used his hands, using them to dig into the rock and haul himself upwards. While both of them matched in speed, Link’s breath came in short pants, struggling to find any moisture in the hot air. His tools hung heavy on his back, slowing him down, but with an arm-shaking amount of effort, he and Boldon reached the top of the cliff.

He put his hands on his knees, bent over double as he gasped for breath.

“You do this-” Breath “-All the time?”

Boldon laughed, “No, brother! I don't go and come from home often. Climbing is usually a thing I do for competitions.”

Link paused, squinting at the floor, then said, “Yeah, that makes sense.”

“You alright there, brother?”

“Yeah, yeah. Where are we at now?”

“Well, we just went past Lake Ferona and Intenoch, so just over there-” He pointed, “ Is Medingo Pool. Further up the path is Gortram Cliff, which has the last body of water before Goron City.”

Link pulled his canteen out of his bag, pausing to take a drink, and with his mouth no longer uncomfortably dry, he asked, “When do I need to take the first elixir?”

“When we leave the cliff. That’s when the floor has those boulders in that Rudania flicked out the volcano.”

“What’s Rudania?”

Boldon gaped at him. “You've _never heard of Divine Beast Vah Rudania?_ ”

“Oh, I know the Divine Beasts. They have names?”

“Yeah, brother! This one’s Vah Rudania. It’s been a pain in the butt for _years_ now. Someone oughta to get rid of the thing. C’mon, we’ll walk and talk.”

And so they set off, Link pausing halfway to take off his shirt, much to Boldon’s amusement.

“I didn't realise Hylians could have those,” Boldon said, pointing to Link’s chest and stomach. Although his bruises were still yellow and sore, the elixir that Karsh had given him had definitely helped, and it no longer hurt to raise his arms or climb.

Or do anything, really. When he still had the worst of it, it ached all the time, regardless of whether or not he was doing anything.

“Have what?”

“The, like, ridges.” Boldon rubbed his own chest in example, his fingers dipping in the ridges of his rock muscles.

Link got what he meant, laughing as he flexed his arms and chest, “Oh these?” He asked, both feigning causality and exaggerating his confidence, “These are muscles. Not many Hylians have them, or at least not ones in such good shape.”

Boldon laughed, “Yeah, brother! You look like a warrior with those scars and muscles! I thought you were some scrawny kid, but I bet you could wrestle a moblin with those things!”

“Yeah! Maybe someday I’ll be able to box a Goron.”

They laughed together, almost falling over when Boldon mimed throwing Link over his shoulder. Eventually they calmed down again, and Boldon looked again to Link’s scars. “Seriously though, how did you get those? It looks like whatever came at you was out of this world.”

Link sighed, wondering if there was anything else in the world that could bring the mood down so quickly. “I don't remember,” He said, “I think the only thing that could have done it was a Guardian, so that’s my answer. If you have to know, it nearly killed me.”

Boldon turned sheepish, “Aw, brother. I’m sorry that I brought up uncomfortable memories like that. Hey! How about we forget I asked that and instead take a dip in the hot springs? They always make me feel ready to rock and roll!”

“Will they be cool enough for me to sit in?”

“Oh sure! Most people who come to Death Mountain come for the hot springs. They’re said to be healing!”

“You sound like a tour guide.”

“Link, bro, I _am_ a tour guide.”

He laughed, putting down his bags and getting ready to get in the admittedly lovely sounding hot springs. The climbing from yesterday still laid claim to his arms and legs, and he could still feel the burn in them when he had been climbing just a few minutes ago, making his movements harder but not impossible.

This, he thought, sinking into the crystalline water, was the reason why he loved the Gorons.

There were other aspects too; of course, the hot spring alone wouldn't be the only factor in his argument for them. Their entire race felt like they had existed for as long as rocks existed, worn down and hardy, but their motivation and personalities always seemed to revolve around the same basic and pure elements: loyalty, off handed kindness, and flexibility to change. There would always be exceptions to these elements, there always was, but even if there were Link would continue to think of the Gorons as a very familiar race, and would treat them as they had so far treated him - with open arms.

Here, now, with his head on a particularly comfortable rock and his body in some particularly comfortable water, Link could feel his stresses melt away like ice around a flame, his previously stiff muscles turning to putty, the same kind that he would get from a massage. Boldon joined him a metre or so away, the only difference between when he was on land and now was that he wasn't carrying his bag.

“Like I said, bro, this is the key to a Goron’s success.”

“How’d you mean?”

“You know we’re made of rocks?” Link nodded, “Well, if we experience too low a temperature for a long time, our bodies start to stiffen and can sometimes break! Being away from heat and sun isn't good for us, but cold is the worst. Easiest way to combat erosion is to come back to Goron City and have a couple of rock roasts and a dip in the springs.”

Link thought about this for a moment, then began his own telling, “We Hylians don't like extreme temperatures. Too hot or too cold or too much sun can kill us.”

“How do you fight it?”

“Clothes, mostly, like-”

“Like the armour! Brother, when we get to Goron City you really gotta get some, I’m telling you.”

“I’m planning on it, brother,” Link said, laughing at his adopted use of the phrase, “Believe me.”

 

One Eldin Tower, three fireproof elixirs, a dash from a Talus, and an exchange of lizards for a hat, Link and Boldon finally reached the end of their haphazard journey to Goron City, their feet aching and sore, but their faces still smiling and hearts light, making the pain and struggle of their travels a little easier to bare. Link still felt the need to sleep for a week, but that wasn't really possible when he would have to take a potion every fifteen or so minutes. While he was here he couldn't rest, so at the very least he could do the needful and get himself a set of the armour that Boldon had been talking about.

“Hey there. You’re a Hylian, aren’t you?” The shopkeeper asked, seemingly confused about how Link wasn't on fire.

“Uh huh. I need to buy some armour, please.” He said. He’d already traded most of the horrible lizards to someone down the road, and gained the helmet in return, but he could still feel the heat of the earth seeping through his shoes, and within the next seven or so minutes he would definitely need to drink and shower himself in another potion.

“Alrighty then,” The Goron smacked his hands together, “I can already see that you’ve got the helmet, so that’ll knock some off your bill, but the chest piece and bottoms together cost thirteen thousand rupees.”

Link sucked in a breath, coughing when a bit of ash stuck to the back of his throat.

“That’s-” _cough, “_ That’s a lot.”

“It is, brother, but think on how much you’ll save if you wear this instead of using an elixir every five minutes. These are hand made, built with sapphires to keep you from burning up, and if it breaks I will be able to fix it for you, free of charge.”

Link nodded along, but then asked, “Can I sell to you first? I have a lot of items but not a lot of rupees.”

The shop keep opened his arms, like he was going to give Link a hug over the counter, but refrained from doing so, “Sure thing! I’ll take anything you give me.”

 

With only twenty-three rupees spare, Link walked from the shop in a full suit of armour. Although it had sapphires in to aid his cool down, there were a whole plethora of other features too; a lycra under suit, a special head piece that kept his hair from sticking to his head, and special gloves to wear _under_ the gauntlets to stop him from being burnt when picking metal things up. The shop keep had also gone into details about caring for the suit, such as not going into lava or deep water with it on, but Link hadn't really been listening.  

He’d been more focused on something the Goron had said.

“We get the sapphires from the ore deposits all around Goron City, so this is a local made item!”

Ore.

Something Link could sell elsewhere for money.

His money pouch was feeling empty, he thought, and having something valuable on his person to sell when he next entered a town willing to buy them could be quite useful. Apparently the Gorons didn't eat gemstones, unlike every other rock, and so Link wouldn't gain much from selling them there, but for the future…

“Hey Boldon, I don't suppose you know where I can get a hammer or something?”

 

The north mine was swarming with monsters, lava pools and rivers, air currents to float on, and most importantly, ore.

With Boldon leaving him to his own devices, Link took the opportunity to hone his two-handed weapon skills along with his rock breaking ones, floating from place to place with a cobble crusher on his back and a couple of sledgehammers in his bag, just waiting for the next lizalfos to come at him and try to dance. Even with the armour and its under suit, Link was sweating. He could feel his wet hair even with it not stuck to his scalp, and further the wetness all over his body as the moisture struggled to leave the suit. If he were feeling dramatic, he would say he was being steamed alive.

Even though the northern mine was great, with its stones and its monster parts that he could sell, it apparently wasn't the best place to be - the mountain was. The thing was though, Link couldn't get anywhere close to the actual Death Mountain itself because of the _huge fucking lizard crawling all over it_.

Yeah, he thought the small ones were bad.

The sound it had made when he attempted to go up the mountain was indescribable, and other than the ear piercing roar it had made Link hadn't even heard it moving, clawing at the cliff-side like a dragon over it’s treasure. It was just his luck that the one place in Hyrule, the _one place_ he had decided to go happened to be infested not only with smaller lizards that scrambled over the path at the slightest movement, scaring the life out of him, but also was inhabited by the largest creature he had seen so far, also a lizard.

When he first heard the roar, first seen the creature, Link had to sit down to stop himself from fainting and falling into the lava. He lay there for a long time, heavily breathing with what little moisture he could muster forming tears down his cheeks. Now he stood, watching the monumental lizard scuttle over the mountainside, it’s fiery paws sinking into the lava that streamed down the mountain in rivers. If the thing weren’t stopped then the lava would just keep coming, eventually filling the fire lakes that pooled around the edge of the volcano and possibly flooding out Goron city as well. The Gorons really had it bad, he thought, if they had to live under that thing’s shadow for eternity.

Link looked to the cobble crusher in his hand, and then to the dead lizalfos at his feet.

 _Technically_ they didn't have to.


	8. Into the Beast

Yunobo was an odd fellow, lacking the easy confidence that other Gorons had in spades, with ruddy cheeks and a bit of a baby face, or as much of a baby face as a creature made from stone could have. Further to that, Link thought that he would have attracted a lot of attention if he had been born Hylian, seeing as his swirl of hair was of a pale shade, and his eyes matched the light blue of his scarf.

Why didn't his scarf catch fire? Link wasn't sure, but wanted something of the same material for his future explorations around Death Mountain. It would be cool if it was red, maybe let him swim in lava, but he didn't hold out too much hope.

“Thank goodness you were here, goro. I came here to get the painkillers for Boss, but a magma bomb caused a rockslide, sealing the entrance. If it wasn't for you, I might have never gotten out. Um,” Yunobo paused, looking around outside the little cave, “How _did_ you get me out, goro?”

“Oh, I used the cannon and a bomb,” Link said. I didn't know that you were in there until I heard you yelling for help.”

“Huh? You used the Boss’ cannon!? That thing is so difficult to use. I thought only the Boss could handle it!” Yunobo smiled at him, lighting up the whole rock island. Link smiled back, albeit a bit shyer.

“Well, uh, it’s no problem.” Link went to rub the back of his head, but his hand met the helmet. Thankfully Yunobo didn't notice; too busy looking at the treacherous way back.

“I would've been in real trouble if you hadn't shown up when you did, goro.” He sighed deeply; turning away from the way back to look at Link again, “Still no sign of Bludo, eh? He said he’d come out here to get a better shot at Rudania, but I guess he’s not coming. I should go back and get these painkillers to him.”

He nodded, but had no idea what Yunobo was talking about.

Yunobo turned sheepish, scuffing his feet against the floor like he was about to ask for something that he knew he shouldn't have, and Link couldn't help but feel a little endeared. “Would you, um, mind helping me back?” Yunobo asked, “If I go into the cannon and use Daruk’s Protection, can you shoot me out of the cannon and towards Goron City? It’s always easier to get here than it is to get back, goro.”

“Wait, what?”

“Shoot me out the cannon,” Yunobo repeated, still as casual as before, “I do it all the time, but usually Boss helps me.”

Link was dumbstruck. “So when you said ‘get a better shot’ you meant _shooting yourself!?_ ”

“Yeah, goro. He shoots me at Rudania to keep it away from the city,” Yunobo pointed to the lizard on the side of the mountain, “It’s a real pest, and we’re the only ones who can stop it, goro.”

An idea struck him, “How about I shoot you at it for him?” Link asked, a manic smile spreading across his features.

“ _What? Are you insane?_ ” Yunobo yelled, “ _Why?”_

“I want to get on it.”

Yunobo stared at him open mouthed, “You're gonna try to board the Divine Beast? Who do you think you are, Lord Daruk? It's dangerous in there, goro! Though I guess if you weakened it first, it might be possible... But why risk it?”

Link’s answer was simple, “I need to pay someone back.”

The Goron looked unconvinced, “Hmm. Well, I don't really get it, but I'm sure you have your reasons, goro…”

Grinning with a mouth full of teeth, Link said, “I sure do!”

 

He remembered when he walked out of the clothing store, when the sun hung low in the sky and cascaded the rock statues in orange hues, furthering the appearance of their pigmentation.

 

_On a blisteringly sunny day, with the wind howling through his hair and the earth still beneath his feet, Link stood on Vah Rudania as one would stand before a kingdom - with pride, accomplishment, and not a hint of fear. The Master Sword, still strapped to his back, was the only weight he felt as all else melted away._

_Daruk, possibly his only friend since becoming the princess’ appointed knight, stood by his side, and in that moment Link felt like he was right in being chosen to be who everyone wanted him to be. Like a sponge he absorbed the feeling, already aware that when he once again stood on flat ground that it would all disappear once again. Invincible, courageous, and capable._

_“Yeah! I think I’m finally getting the hang of controlling this Divine Beast! I tell you what…sure is a blast piloting a toy like this around. Let those other Champions know, they better eat their gravel if they wanna keep up with Daruk.” The champion yelled, bringing his beast to a standstill. He turned to Link, his face split with a smile, “Speaking of which, can you believe this view? Just look at all those delectable rocks sprinkled on those mountains… Mighty tasty.”_

_Link did agree with the delicious statement, but did with the fact that they looked beautiful, with the ore deposits glistening in the sun and the red rock showing off their colour well. Not a drop of lava was on the outside - it had been years since an eruption. Daruk smiled at the mountain- his mountain, and then turned to Link, his expression serious._

_“I may not know a whole lot about this Calamity Ganon thing… but mark my words, I’ll protect this land of ours to the death! Right, little guy?”_

_Link’s own face turned serious, and said, “Yeah. It’s the right thing to do.”_

_“Alright!” Daruk yelled again, raising his fist in agreement. “Hey, by the way…congrats on becoming the princess’s appointed knight. That’s a really big deal! Protecting the king’s daughter… No pressure! Seriously, though. The princess is a strong personality—so strong she can’t quite see the range for the peaks. Remember that, and you’ll be fine.”_

_Link went to agree, going so far as to open his mouth before Daruk interrupted him, “What the-?”_

_Boulders the size of Gorons fell from a ledge, blocking the sky as they came straight at them. Daruk leapt in front of Link, going into his defensive pose in the nick of time, shattering the boulder before it could flatten them. The rumbling stopped; the rest of the boulders settled on the Divine Beast or the mountain below. Link turned to the champion again._

_“Does that happen often?”_

_Although Link had seen his friends face in many shaded before now, ranging from his usual happy self to a stormy rage, Daruk’s current expression was that of worry. Link felt his own face become the same._

_“That was a little strange… As far as I know, Death Mountain has been quiet for decades. But if the mountain is shivering enough to send down a bunch of boulders that size, then—” Daruk sighed, pulling his hand away from his face, “Never mind. Forget I said anything.”_

 

“Are you _sure_ that you're ready for this, goro?”

Link was assessing his weapons, laying out all the ones that wouldn't catch fire once they crossed the Bridge of Eldin, and throwing the ones that would into the lava. It left him with three two handed weapons, two spears and two swords, five bows and four shields. He had also made sure to buy any of the arrows that the merchant had been selling and made as many elixirs as he could with the few hearty lizards he could scramble to catch.

He wasn't as scared of the poor things anymore, seeing as he was about to face the biggest lizard in (hopefully) existence. It still felt weird putting them into potions, but as with the fire proof ones, he would sooner hurt a few lizards than end up dead. He had also cooked pretty much every piece of food in his collection, mixing the admittedly huge amounts of salt he had found with fish and vegetables to preserve them, frying flowers and herbs to make meals with no nutritional value but many varied effects.

Honesty he felt a little _over_ prepared, if there was such a thing when facing down a monster that controlled a mountain.

“I think so,” Link said, tossing the last of his flammable bows into the depths, “I can't wait to get back here and go to the hot springs.”

“You and me both, goro. I promise I won't go until you come back. It’s only fair, seeing as you're heading up there to help us out.”

Link smiled, “Thanks, but we both need to get up there first.”

 

Sentries.

Specifically of the robotic came-out-of-the-lizard kind.

Of course there were countless obstacles going up the path, both machine and monster, physical and metaphorical. Yunobo didn't know how to fight, not that Link expected him to, but it still meant that he was bearing the majority of the grudge that Vah Rudania brought down upon them. He took it with as much grace as he could muster in a suit designed not for battle of monsters but for battle of the elements, and paused multiple times to drink in sips, aware that once he was on the beast he wouldn't have a way of getting any more.

It was a literal uphill battle, to the extent where even Yunobo struggled to maintain footing on a battlefield that he should have been more than capable of handling, but due to Rudania’s hundred years or so up on the mountain, spewing rocks and ash, being worn by rain and mudslides, the paths mapped on his slate had since been worn away, leaving faint trails but no easy route. To further this, the areas that still faintly resembled roads had those flying machines on top, which Yunobo wouldn't be able to sneak around, and Link couldn't leave without Yunobo following, and so with every tool on his slate he took them down, one by one.

The first and second cannons were reached without a hitch, with Link dispatching the moblin by knocking it off the cliff.

“You seem to know how to deal with those things, goro.”

Link shrugged as best as he could with a sledgehammer in his hands, but was already moving on to the third cannon.

 

Night fell when Link launched Yunobo for the last time, and Rudania’s screech echoed across Hyrule like a gong, signalling to the world that a war between man, machine, and evil was about to occur. It scuttled into the volcano, residing at the bottom like a wounded animal. From above, Link could see the mechanisms in its legs, the gears and ball joints, the wires and clips and hinges, but he couldn't see anything controlling it.

“I- Link.” Yunobo said, stopping himself when he turned to him. Link let Yunobo continue uninterrupted, already wise to the young Goron’s speaking quirks. “I hope you’re okay.” He settled on, but interrupted him before he could reply, “I know you don't have to do this, and you know that you don't have to do this, goro, but you're doing it anyway. It’s something I could never have even imagined doing myself, and I’m sorry.”

Through the grate of the helmet, Link couldn't exactly comfort Yunobo through facial expressions alone, and so he instead put his hand on his shoulder.

“Yunobo, even being up here is something more than I would have ever asked you to do. You're the bravest Goron, no, _being_ I’ve met so far. Thank you for getting me here, because I couldn't have done it without you.”

Yunobo laughed, almost bitterly, “I guess I should be thankful that my grandfather’s protection got passed onto me then, huh?”

“No. I should be thankful that someone like you was willing to help me. Even if you didn't have his protection I know that you’d be willing to help me. Thank you.” Link pulled the faceplate up, letting Yunobo look into his eyes. “I’ll see you around?”

Yunobo sniffed, fighting tears, “You better come back, goro.”

“I’m planning on it.”

Link jumped, pulling out his paraglider and sailing down to the Divine Beast, the hot wind from the earth whistling past his ears in an ominous white noise. The updraft, while definitely there, was not enough for Link to stop sinking. It was hard to see through all the smoke and air, he felt like if he kept his eyes open for too long then they would dry out and stop working all together. He had thought that the northern mines were bad.

Here, technically below and above the earth’s surface Link felt like he was being boiled in air, and if his hair hadn't been in the lycra under suit he was sure it would have caught fire. He wasn't even sure if his eyebrows and eyelashes would survive the trip into the bowels of the earth, let alone if they would survive whatever he encountered down in the possessed mechanical creature.

Gently, he landed, wondering what it would take to make the beast startle and begin to move again.

 

“Hey, little guy,” A defeated voice echoed, and Link looked around to see where it had come from. “Long time no see. I always knew that you would come back. Y’know, I never stopped believing in you!”

Link pulled the slate back from the terminal, taking the opportunity to look at the floor where he had landed, but he listened acutely for what Daruk would have to say.

“You’re here to take ol’ Rudania back from Ganon, hey? Well, if that’s the case, you're going to need a map that shows you the guts of this place. You can get one on your slate-thing from the pedestal inside Rudania, or the Guidance Stone as the princess used to call it.” Daruk chuckled, “I know you can't see me, but I’ve got your back. Now get a move on!”

Link smiled, looking to the slim expanse of sky above him, before wandering inside of the beast.

The door behind him slid shut. Link was completely enveloped in darkness and rancid heat, the smell of trapped air and corrupt organisms floating about like ghosts in the wind, and the only visible light coming from two lit beacons, which for some reason glowed an eerie blue. One thing that Link had learned from his travels was that blue either meant safety or danger, with very little in between - for one there was the save glow from completed shrines, but also the horrible eye of a Guardian. What he did know for certain was that those eyes littering the floor before him were _definitely_ meant to be shot at, seeing as they were the exact same colour as the eye of the Hinox he had fought not three days earlier.

The eyes were worrying though. They appeared to be in some sort of nucleus structure, with smaller eyes clustered around the centre eye, which was the only one in the disturbing pile that followed him across the room. He wasn't sure if it was actually looking at him or if it just sensed movement, seeing as there wasn't anything it could do to stop the arrow from killing it.

Using the torch provided, Link lit the other beacon across the room and walked through.

Shield drawn instantly, the mini Guardian fired at Link but didn't kill him. It began to charge up again, and Link readied his arm.

_Flick!_

The laser beam reflected straight off his shield and back into its eye, killing it instantly. It seemed that Boldon wasn't lying about that trick, but Link wasn't sure about how long it would be before he would be willing to try it on a living, moving, massive Guardian. He made a note mentally to tell him that it worked before moving on.

Link went to collect what remained, and then set about dispatching of the other eye things.

 

The drip of what Link could only assume was information went onto the slate, which then twisted again in the pedestal and moved upwards for him to take.

“Nice job getting the map of Rudania. The terminals are those glowing points on your map, and to take back Rudania, you've gotta activate _all_ of them. You’ve got this little guy!”

Almost like Daruk was helping him, the vents on the top of the Divine Beast opened, letting out the sweltering air from inside and replacing it with the equally as horrible air that was outside.

Lungs thick with the sulphurous gasses and ash, Link covered his mouth and nose with the lycra under layer and set to work.

 

“There are four terminals remaining. We’ve got this!”

His canteen was half full, and panting in the unforgiving atmosphere did nothing but weaken him further. The gash down his side from the lizalfos skull-thing ached with each breath he took, but instead of drinking a full potion, Link delicately dabbed at it with a soiled cloth, aware that whatever had been controlling the beast for one hundred years was still out there, lingering like a bad taste in the mouth.

He needed to be on guard. Even with the countless eyes taken care of the feeling of being watched remained.

 

“There are three terminals remaining. Let’s get moving!”

Magnesis had become the primary rune on his slate for the time being, always at the ready. His bow, although metal, stung his hands each time he reached for it, making every arrow he shot a pain not only for his target but also for himself. He gasped, grunted, and pulled himself up the ledge, hoping to get to the next terminal quicker.

 

“There are two terminals remaining. Just a little more!”

Link was an idiot.

How had he not seen the hole in the floor? They were as big as a tree, no, _bigger_ , the size of boulders and entire houses. How had he not seen it?

Desperate, Link tried not to cry as he pulled his armour off, peeling back the under suit to get a better look at the damage to his leg. He sobbed at the sight of it.

It was definitely broken, with an inch or so of bone sticking from his flesh and the area around it already turning purple.

“Fuck-” Link gasped, wishing that he could just rid himself of all his uncomfortable armour and curl up in a ball. Death wasn't something he often wished for, but with the rapid pulsing of his heartbeat bringing new waves of pain every second, he considered just throwing himself off Vah Rudania right then and there.

Hands shaking, Link uncorked the bottle from before, drinking half of the remains and using the rest on his leg. The swelling immediately lessened, but he didn't know how on earth the bone would go back in his body, seeing as a potion could only do so much.

“Goddess, give me-” he grasped the lower half of his leg, one hand on his ankle, “-Strength.”

 

“Just one terminal remaining! Just one more!”

He was close, _so close_ to being done in the fiery pits of Death Mountain, so close to being able to call Vah Rudania a freed beast and being able to go down to Yunobo and call all his troubles gone.

Throat dry, lips cracked, and his skin pruned around his fingers from sitting in stagnant sweat, Link floated down to the centre of the Divine Beast to get to the last terminal behind the metal doors.

He pressed the slate to it, watching as it turned from orange to blue. Daruk’s phantom voice spoke out again, with just as much belief and determination as before.

“Nice! That was the last terminal. Now go ahead and start up the main control unit.”

“Okay,” Link rasped, knowing that the champion couldn't hear him.

“Okay,” He rasped again, twisting Rudania onto its side so that he could climb up onto its back.

“Okay,” He whispered, putting the slate down on what he could only assume was the main control unit.

A great burst of vile liquid burst from the unit, swirling upwards like bile into the air. This fluid was as dark as blood, with thin strips of scarlet highlighting the inside, which revealed something that Link could only describe as organic, twisting and spiralling as muscle did. The orange light disappeared under the fluid, which rose above like a balloon, turning the same blue as the fire inside Rudania while manifesting into something wholly evil.

Link stood his ground, drawing his shield for protection while forgoing hiding his eyes, watching transfixed as the thing formed, it’s hand turning into a blade, it’s hair cascading down its back, and its lone eye focused intently on him.

He had thought Rudania’s screech was bone shaking, but this thing that had been awoken after it’s hundred year slumber made Link want to cover his ears to stop the ear splitting scream that it let out from entering, as if even looking upon, hearing, or considering this thing would be enough to corrupt him too.

The beast raised its arm, Link rose his own, and the battle began.

Quicker than lightning, Link dashed to the side, gripping his bow and watching the thing move, waving this way and that. He drew his bow and firing twice the evil fell to the floor, Link taking the chance and getting close to it. Standing on its arm made his foot sink in deep, the metal around the edges dissolving almost instantly, but Link was more intent on throwing his whole weight behind the hammer, ramming it’s flat edge into the creature’s face. As quickly as the opportunity came, it went, the monster turning blue again and moving across the playing field. Link watched as it ducked between the arches on Rudania’s back, weaving this way and that to avoid being aimed at by Link’s bow, but the creature wasn't too smart, manifesting again a few metres away, facing him again. Link did the same thing, nocking two arrows and firing, but this time he wasn't as accurate.

They still struck the monster, but instead of it hitting the vulnerable eye it hit low near where its mouth would have been if it were a mortal creature. It moved again, still in its physical form, making it harder for Link to aim his sights.

He dived.

_Crash!_

The creature’s great sword came down on the Divine Beast, echoing all around the mountain and even in Link, who had only just missed being severed in half. Drawing his bow again he fired, hitting it twice in the eye and watching as it finally went down again. Not wasting the opportunity this time, Link snatched up his best weapon, the royal broadsword, and slashed the thing across again and again, holding back on his exhaustion in favour of driving the thing back to whichever godless world it had come from.

Again it reared back, this time impervious to all attacks when it pulled itself back together at the seems, and with one hand holding fire as no mortal being could, it lit its weapon and itself aflame.

“That flaming ball is dangerous!” Daruk yelled, as if Link himself couldn't gather that.

The heat increased to an impossible level, almost making the very metal that Vah Rudania was made from melt, and Link was caught between that thing and a huge pit of lava, neither of which he could afford to fall too. He itched to pull his helmet off, to see into his peripherals as the thing once again took off in a glowing ball. But this time no blade came down, and in its place the suction of air.

The creature, in a moment that would inevitably be its downfall, as acting as the octoroks had on the route up the blasted mountain.

Activating his slate, Link pulled free a bomb and threw it with all his might, watching as the lone speck of blue in the orange and black sky twirled around the creature in dance before he detonated it.

The creature again fell to Rudania, it’s screech once again echoing through Link but he did not, could not, falter. His lungs shook when he dashed again to the creatures side, landing blow after blow upon its back, laying tears down its side and letting the malice inside slip free in a pool, and just as Link thought that the beast could take no more, it shot up again, it’s eye flickering, its body trembling, and wounds gushing the black blood freely all over the back of Rudania, letting out a final, painful, chorus of screeches before it erupted in a glowing ball of pink light.

The evil from Vah Rudania was gone.

The control unit, until now surrounded in the same evil presence that had lingered on the Divine Beast, was freed too, and from where the beast exploded lowered a single heart container - an item only from legend, and given to those who had vanquished unspeakable evil.

Link reached out to touch it, but as soon as he did it melted into his skin like ice, flowing up his arms and becoming one with his blood. He couldn't see it through the suit still, but he could feel it. Instantly all of the wounds on his body stopped aching, but Link’s feet, head, and muscles still screamed for a break, and his parched body could have fallen right then and there, never to get up again.

He pressed the slate to the control unit, which instantly lit up blue, and he stepped back, finally able to say that he had helped the Gorons in return for their kindness.

“Great work, little guy!”

Behind him, like it wasn't one hundred years in the future and in the middle of a volcano, the Goron Champion Daruk clapped his hands together and grinned, his spirit finally able to roam the world once again with the horrid beast no longer hanging over his head.

He held his arms out, and Link didn't need to be told twice.

As if he hadn't just fought the battle of his life, as if he hadn't just done something that no one could have done even with more skills, as if he wasn't running on three days without sleep, Link ran into Daruk’s arms, remembering everything about his friend- love of flint, enjoying fish by a campfire, talking about cats, knitting- everything. Or at least, everything that wasn't swallowed by a similarly shaped void where another person was. But Link wasn't too focused on the blurry memories of his past, what mattered now was _now -_ The tight feeling of Daruk’s embrace was something that he never wanted to forget again, but Link felt like he had already forgotten something that he’d promised himself not to. In that moment, however, he was certain that for the rest of his journey across Hyrule he could cherish it.

“I owe you big time for this. Because of you, my spirit is finally free. Can't thank you enough!”

“But Link, I…” Daruk paused, lowering his head to rest on Link’s, “I feel like I should apologise. I was doing all I could to protect Hyrule when that thing got the best of me, and I’m sorry that me resting with the rubble caused such a mess.”

“S’okay.” Link rubbed his face against Daruk’s chest, pulling off the helmet to get closer to him. Even with the instant increase in heat bearing down on him, Link couldn't focus on it, only having eyes for his friend.

“The good news is, now that Rudania is back under our control, it means that our century-old Ganon beat-down plan can finally go into effect! I’m going to take this,” Daruk moved one hand to gesture to Rudania, but Link wasn't focusing, “down the mountain. I’ll have a better shot at Ganon from there, and then, once you've made your way into Hyrule Castle, we’re gonna light that thing up!”

He nodded again. Daruk continued, “I wanna give you something. It’s a special power of mine called Daruk’s Protection. It’s no use to me now that I’m a spirit… but it might be useful to you. Here it comes!”

Daruk pulled back from the hug, letting Link stumble as he adjusted to staying on his own two feet again. Smacking his hands together again, Daruk pulled them apart to reveal a glowing orb the size of a rock, which seemingly came from nowhere but his soul, and as soon as the silvery trails of light stopped coming from his hands to the orb, he threw it forward to Link’s chest, being absorbed into him in the same way that the heart container had been. “From this moment fourth the power of protection, from the depths of my soul, now lives inside you.”

Link touched the chest plate, feeling where the power had gone into him and rested in his chest.

“I’m sorry this can't be a longer reunion,” Daruk said, his brown eyes turning sad, “but my spirit form can only do so much with the protection gone. This is where we say goodbye.” Daruk opened his arms one last time for a hug, letting Link slot between them.

“Don't go,” Link said, his voice delirious.

“I can't help it,” Daruk sighed.

“Please-” Link’s body began to dissolve into light, like his slate was acting without his consent to drag him back to reality. He grabbed Daruk’s hand one last time, his body attempting to muster tears even though he had no water left to cry with. The Champion’s own eyes looked a little teary, grasping Link’s hand as tightly as he could while it ran from his palm like sand.

“Good luck, little guy! And give my regards to the Princess!”

 

_Was this death?_

_Being surrounded by comforting heat, someone brushing his hair, breathing air that was actually air and not some hazardous concoction of chemicals and airborne particles, where the world smelt like cinnamon and his skin was like velvet? Was this death, where he could definitely open his eyes if he wanted too, could blink and take in the glorious sunlight and the birds tweeting? Was this death, where whoever was brushing through his hair was humming softly?_

 

“Open your eyes…”

Link did.

“Oh thank goodness, goro!” Yunobo yelled, cupping Link’s face between his hands, “I thought you were a goner! I came looking for you after I saw Rudania come up the mountain, goro, but when I saw you on the floor with your helmet off thought the worst had happened!”

Link blinked at Yunobo, watching the young Goron’s upside down face with a mixture of confusion and concern.

“Wht?” He asked, face pressed together.

“I thought you were dead! You weren’t moving and your skin was really dry, and you had a wicked burn down the side of your face from where you were laying face down in the dirt, but I brought you here and put you in the water and, goro, I am so glad you’re alright!”

Link found the energy to smile, but with Yunobo’s hands on the side of his face and the burn across his left cheek, Link wasn't really in the best position to do so, so it came off as more of a half-grin than anything.

“Thankths,” He lisped, bringing up a hand to pry one of Yunobo’s hands off him.

“Oh! Sorry, goro. I guess I don't know my own strength.” He laughed a little awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head with his hand.

Link took a moment to assess his surroundings, noticing his bags, armour, clothing and bow nearby, and his sword within arms reach. He also looked around to see where exactly he was, and based on the large bodies of crystalline blue water around him, it was safe to assume that he was at the bottom of the mountain rather than one of the smaller pools further up. Somewhere nearby a pigeon cooed, reminding him of sometime long ago, where he was surrounded by trees on all sides and enveloped in a thick, but safe, fog.

That fog felt a bit like the water now, actually.

“You gonna come in?” Link asked, waving his hands around in the water, looking up at Yunobo from between his eyelashes.

Yunobo startled, looking at Link’s relaxed expression before eventually deciding, “Yeah… that would be great.”

“Hmm.”

“What’s your plan now?”

“I don't know.”

“Really? Did you plan on coming here?”

Link’s eyes opened again. “Oh,” He said, “I still need to get some amaranth.”

He jolted out the water, “What? You didn't even mean to come to Goron City!?”

Laughing, Link said, “No, but I’m glad that I did.”

“Because you beat Rudania?”

“Because I met you,” Link said, taking Yunobo’s hand below the water.

There was a pause.

“I think you still have heatstroke.”

Link laughed again, hard enough to make his ribs hurt, “Yeah! Probably! After all, I went into a _volcano!_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading! I really apriciate it if you stuck with this until the end, and I have to say, I am a little proud of myself for writing around 50k of fanfiction within two weeks. I hope you have all enjoyed the story and will stick around if i make another section, which i fully plan on doing. 
> 
> As always, thank you for leaving comments, bookmarks and Kudos, as they are the fuel behind my writing.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Welcome to the second part in this series. As I got so much positive feedback on the first part in this series, I have decided to continue with it. As I'm sure you are aware this is the second part in the series, and while it isn't 100% necessary to read the first, I would highly suggest (and highly appriciate it) if you did.  
> This story was originally intended to be a sort of retelling of my own experience with the game, and while many creative liberties have been taken in regards to the original content, I hope that it stays truthful in a way that you will enjoy.  
> This part in the series is mostly going to be about Link coming to grips with this new Hyrule, and his attempts at becoming the hero that he is expected, regardless of whether or not he wants to be it.
> 
> As always, please leave bookmarks, comments and kudos. I greatly appriciate them :)


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